Spiderman 3
by Larbo
Summary: Written before Raimi's actual Spiderman 3 was released, bears remarkable similarities to the movie, except there's no Sandman and the Venom/New Goblin plot is the primary focus.
1. Act 1

**Spiderman 3**

**Act 1, Scene 1**

_The New York cityscape, the most famous in the world. We stay on it for a second and then – whoosh – a flash of blue and red flies past the screen. It's Spiderman. He's chasing two police cars which themselves are hot on the heels of another vehicle, a large van. The van's back doors fly open and two hoods are revealed. One grins as he hefts a rocket launcher to his shoulder. The police cars veer to the left and right, and one smashes into traffic, out of commission. The other survives._

_As the hood launches the rocket, a web attaches itself to the launcher and jerks it upward slightly, out of the path of traffic and pedestrians. The rocket fires. We enter Spiderman's 'spider-sense' bullet-time mode as, from his point of view, he sees the rocket shoot toward him as he swings. He twists his body in a way no human could and, falling, shoots his web from both wrists so it attaches itself to the rocket. He's pulled upward with the rocket, web still firing from his wrists, thickening the two weblines until the rocket is covered in a protective cocoon of webbing. This done, Spiderman detaches himself from the rocket and begins falling once again to the New York streets. _

_We cut to a daytime scene. Peter Parker, dressed in his university gear and looking quite well, is thumbing through the newspapers available on a newsstand. He comes to the Daily Bugle, which screams SPIDERMAN IN ROCKET ATTACK ON CITIZENS! alongside a sensationalised picture of a small boy standing beside the cocooned rocket, trussed up like a beached shark._

PETER: Figures.

_We go back to the previous scene. Spiderman is still falling. As he's now done many times before, he judges the moment to perfect to snake out a webbing line and swoop back into the pursuit of the van. As he nears it again, he sees that the hoods have reloaded the rocket launcher and are fumbling it into launch position._

SPIDERMAN: Not again you don't…

_In his customary spectacular style, Spiderman uses two lamp-posts to swing around the in-motion traffic (barely avoiding an oncoming rig) and land on the roof of the van. Just as the hood has the remaining police-car in his sights, Spiderman's hand reaches down from above him and calmly plucks the launcher._

SPIDERMAN: Thanks. Here, you have this.

_He punches the hood in the face and swings around the edge of the van to land nimbly inside. The other hood faces him._

_We cut back to the newsstand scene. Peter picks up another tabloid paper, the New York Sun-Chronicle. SPIDER-VIGILANTE CRUSHED MY HAND! is the headline_, _beside a picture of the hood cradling a small puppy with one hand. The other is heavily, heavily bandaged._

_Again we go back to the van. The 'victim' pulls a large bowie knife on Spiderman and lunges. With one swift move Spiderman evades the thrust and raps his opponent's knuckles, making him drop the knife. Seconds later he's affixed to the wall with a burst of webbing. _

_We cut to the masked driver. He's tapped on the shoulder. He glances up, barely daring to look away from his high-speed getaway. _

SPIDERMAN: Hi.

HOOD: Ah, _crap_...

_Spiderman pats him on the shoulder. _

SPIDERMAN: …right over there will do. Nice and slow.

_The hood obliges, reducing the van's speed and pulling it over. _

SPIDERMAN: Nice driving.

HOOD: Thanks.

SPIDERMAN: So, been doing this long?

HOOD: Yeah.

_They come to a halt. The police car, now joined by two more reinforcement cars, screech to a halt beside them. _

SPIDERMAN: Ever think about maybe…stopping?

HOOD: (_bitterly_) Do you?

_Spiderman webs the hood's hands together with a quick precise burst. When he speaks there's quiet satisfaction in his voice._

SPIDERMAN: Not any more.

_With that we see him shoot from the back of the van, bounding high into the New York night. The police officers crane their necks to watch him go. _

OFFICER 1: Damn menace.

OFFICER 2: Ah, get off the guy's back, willya?

OFFICER 1: He's a menace. The sooner someone brings his ass in, the better. Don't you _read _the papers, man?

_And we go back to Peter Parker, who's doing just that with a look of resigned disappointment. The newsstand owner comes into shot, glaring at Peter._

OWNER: This look like a library to you?

PETER: Sorry.

OWNER: You buyin' one or not?

PETER: No, I…

_But as he says this, his attention is distracted by another headline from another paper, the New York Sentinel. HERO SPIDERMAN FOILS ROBBERY._

PETER: Can I have this one?

OWNER: Sure you can. Can I have some money?

_Peter fumbles in his pocket for change. He palms the correct money to the newsstand owner, who takes it and turns away, presumably to abuse some other member of the public. Peter begins walking away slowly, reading the article aloud softly to himself. As he reads a disbelieving grin begins to spread across his face._

PETER: '…last night, New York City was once again made a safer place, once again shown that we have at least one hero who will stand up to the criminal element and show the rest of us an example to follow. And that hero's name, ladies and gentlemen, believe it or not, is…'

**Act 1, Scene 2**

_An ornate desk, upon which rests the same paper Peter is reading._

HARRY: '…Spiderman.'

_We see his hand curl reflexively at the name, crumpling the picture of Spiderman on the front page. Harry continues to read._

HARRY: 'For over three years now New Yorkers have lived beside this anonymous benefactor, this champion. Our fellow press delights in calling him villain, but this paper asks: what his Spiderman done except protect us when necessary from lunatics like Doc Ock or the Green Gob…'

_He trails off and sits there in silence for a moment, his face betraying the inner furies raging within, the confusion._

NORMAN OSBORN (V/O): Harry…

_Harry closes his eyes and grits his teeth._

HARRY: No…no, not you.

NORMAN: Lunatic. That's what they call me.

HARRY: You killed innocent people! You murdered the entire Oscorp board!

NORMAN: I did it for _us_, Harry! You and me! Look around you – everything you have, you to owe to _me_!

HARRY: Everything I have!

_He leaps up from his chair and whirls to face the full-length mirror. As ever, the dearly departed Norman Osborn – his father, the Green Goblin – is there looking back at him accusingly. _

HARRY: I lost everything. Octavius saw to that. The house is all that's left.

NORMAN: The house…and everything in it.

_We see a flash of the moment in Spiderman 2 where Harry discovers the hidden Goblin's cove behind the mirror from which his father speaks. The glider. The bombs. The outfit. Everything one needs to become a supervillain._

NORMAN: Rise again, son. Use what you have here! Restore our family, and destroy our enemies!

HARRY: Spiderman…

NORMAN: PETER PARKER!

_Harry is agonised._

HARRY: He's my friend. He's always been my best friend.

NORMAN: He murdered me. You saw it. He knew who I was, didn't make any difference to him. Believe me, son…I would never have hurt Peter, but he came after me! He hunted me!

_His face and voice change – it's the classic Osborn – Goblin switch._

NORMAN: He deserves to die. Him…and all he cares about.

_Harry's agonised eyes open. They are clear and purposeful. He speaks to his father with a trace of backbone for the first time._

HARRY: No.

NORMAN: No?

HARRY: I'll never hurt MJ, or Aunt May. I'm not like you.

NORMAN: No, you're not. But you want to be, don't you Harry?

_Harry doesn't reply._

NORMAN: And Parker? What about him? Will you make the same promise for him?

_We can see the truth in Harry's eyes; whatever protection MJ and Aunt May could enjoy, the same cannot be said for Peter. A cold, cold hatred burns there._

HARRY: Leave me alone.

_He walks away to the sound of his father/the Goblin's maniacal laughter…_

**Act 1, Scene 3**

_Space. A shuttlecraft's engines burn toward Earth. Inside are three astronauts; two men and one woman. The commander is Colonel John Jameson, son of that quiet unassuming newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson. He speaks into the onboard camera._

JOHN JAMESON: Houston, our engines show good burn.

_We cut to JJJ's office in the Daily Bugle. A huge screen has been erected and is currently showing the camera feed from the shuttle._

JAMESON: Did you hear that! Good burn!

_There are about ten people assembled behind him. They watch with polite interest._

JAMESON: _I_ _said_, did you hear that?

_There is a sudden explosion of 'great!' 'yes!' 'brilliant Mr Jameson!' 'that's quite a son you got there Mr Jameson!'. It's sufficient to make JJJ harrumph with pride. He's clearly the proudest father imaginable._

_One of the secretaries pops her head in the door._

SECRETARY: Mr Jam-

JAMESON: Don't wanna hear it!

SECRETARY: But Mr Jam-

JAMESON: Are you new here?

SECRETARY: Well…yes, Mr Jameson.

JAMESON: Well now you're _fired _here. GET OUT!

_The girl blinks and begins to tear up. Robbie steps over to comfort her. _

ROBBIE: Just slip back to your desk and keep on working. He's watching the beginning of his son's space mission.

SECRETARY: Okay. Thank you.

_Robbie winks at her as she turns to go. She remembers something however and turns back._

SECRETARY: What will I tell them?

ROBBIE: Who?

SECRETARY: NASA. They want to know how Mr Jameson got access to their top-level classified video feed.

ROBBIE: Wrong number?

_He shows her out as kindly but as quickly as possible. JJJ is still enraptured by the feed, and has quite clearly forgotten all about the naïve secretary._

HOUSTON: Roger that good burn, _Praetor. _

JOHN JAMESON: On course for intercept with target object. ETA sixty-two hours fifteen minutes.

_We're back in space, and we see the target object – a large asteroid tumbling end over end in the infinity._

HOUSTON: Roger that. Stand by, _Praetor _– we're receiving reports of a security breach in this transmission…

_At this, JJJ reaches over and calmly pulls a plug from the wall. The video link dies. He stands up and seems surprised to see the group assembled behind him, blinking like rabbits in the headlights.._

JAMESON: What do I look like, a magic eye picture? Get back to work!

_They file out and prevent Peter Parker – who's just arrived - from entering the office. Eventually he gains access, still holding the Sentinel under his arm. He sits down opposite JJJ, who lights a cigar and notices him for the first time._

JAMESON: Parker! What do you want?

PETER: You asked to see me?

JAMESON: Course I did! Big society ball coming up tomorrow night, some infectious disease's birthday or some pianist died, who cares. Since you love that kind of thing, you're my photographer for the event. Got it? Good. Get out.

_His intercom buzzes._

JAMESON: What?

SECRETARY: Mr Brock here to see you, sir.

JAMESON: Who?

SECRETARY: Your showbiz correspondent?

JAMESON: Send him in!

PETER: Mr Jameson, have you seen this?

_JJJ makes a 'give it here' hand motion. He snatches the Sentinel from Peter and scans it. His lip curls with disgust. Eddie Brock enters the office behind them. He's a few years older than Peter and a good deal broader._

JAMESON: Two-bit hack journalism!

PETER: They're telling the truth!

JAMESON: What are you, an echo? Get out!

_Peter gives up in exasperation. As he leaves the office Eddie Brock puts a hand on his chest._

EDDIE: You're the one takes the pictures of the webhead, aren't you?

PETER: Yeah.

EDDIE: Can't you get him doing something a little more in the public interest than wall-crawling or webslinging?

PETER: Like…?

EDDIE: I don't know. Exiting a starlet's hotel room at 3am. Throwing a tantrum at a hot-dog stand because someone messed up his order. Taking off his mask.

PETER: (_coldly_)I don't think so.

EDDIE: Hey I got nothin' against the freak. I just think he could sell a few more newspapers than he does.

JAMESON: Now _there's _a man with a future at the _Bugle_!

PETER: So nice to meet you, Eddie.

_Outside, Peter bumps into Robbie._

ROBBIE: They'll never change their tune about Spiderman, Peter. You know that.

PETER: I know that.

_Robbie regards him keenly. There's a hint that Robbie, genial assistant though he seems to be, knows a great deal more than he's letting on, and that Peter is not unaware of this._

ROBBIE: I don't think Spiderman cares what people say about him anyway. He knows he's a hero. He knows there are enough people out there who are glad to see him doing what he does.

PETER: I think you're right. But I'm sure he was glad to see this.

_He displays the Sentinel's headline. _

ROBBIE: Wonder if they have a job going?

_He and Peter share a wry smile. Robbie re-enters the room and we hear JJJ's familiar bellowing before the door shuts on it once again. Peter stares after him thoughtfully. _

PETER: A job…

**Act 1, Scene 4**

_A theatre. A poster for a play featuring Mary Jane Watson prominently displayed outside. The poster has a bar across saying LAST NIGHT! SOLD OUT!_

_Inside, the play is in full swing. Mary Jane is in her element, her bearing regal, she stalks the stage with the air of one born to be there._

_During a break in dialogue, she casts a glance at the audience, scanning it. A few rows back from the front is an empty seat, the only one in the house. Her eyes settle on it for a moment and we see a faint ripple of a sad but stoic smile touch her cheeks before it's her next cue and she's swept up in the drama once again._

_The scene ends and the interval curtains descend. MJ runs to the wings to change her costume. One of her female co-stars, Angela, a slightly dizzy blonde, does the same thing beside her._

ANGELA: No Peter tonight?

MARY JANE: Ssh!

ANGELA: Oh give it a rest with your secrecy! You didn't keep you and John Jameson a secret, and he's a celebrity! What's with the hush-hush for you and Pete?

MARY JANE: It's…different with Peter, Angie. Just don't say a word, okay?

ANGELA: Hey I'm reliable – unlike a certain cute photographer! This is your last night before your big TV move and he doesn't even show?

MARY JANE: I'm sure he tried to. Something must have come up.

ANGELA: Something more important than this!

MARY JANE: You never know.

ANGELA: All I'm saying is, for his own good he better not be blowing you off to hang out with some girl…

**Act 1, Scene 5**

…_a girl, falling, screaming her lungs out. Spiderman dives off a rooftop as she plummets toward the ground. He snags her with a webline and pulls her falling body to his own before using another webline to deposit them both to safety on the ground. The girl sobs hysterically, throwing her arms around Spiderman._

_We hear the classic 'click-click-whirr' sound of a camera taking a picture, and Spiderman and the girl freeze in place for a moment, before the action resumes._

GIRL: Oh thank you, oh thank you, oh my God thank you-

SPIDERMAN: No problem…uh…really…you can let go now.

GIRL: No! I'll fall without you!

SPIDERMAN: Uh, we're on the ground. So no falling. Sorry, I got something to do.

_Free from her grasp, he leaps and is gone. The girl stares after him, before her eyes roll back in her head and she collapses limply to the ground._

_A helicopter zips and zags through the buildings. Four gun-toting men are inside, one flying, two guarding large cloth bags, one holding a gun on a middle-aged man. _

HOOD 1: Is he gone? Did he catch her?

HOOD 2: No sign of him…and who cares? If he gets too close we've got another little distraction for him.

_He's talking about the middle-aged man, who moans in fear. _

HOOD 3: Hey man, I hear he nailed your cousin?

PILOT: Yeah, just last night. Antwon was the best damn driver in the city too.

HOOD 3: Well, if you wanna talk about it…

PILOT: Thanks m…what the-

_Suspended between two buildings up ahead is the largest spiderweb ever constructed. Big enough, in fact, to trap one escaping helicopter. The pilot leans on the stick and the helicopter attempts to veer off, but it's too late; the thin but incredibly strong strands affix themselves to the craft and refuse to let go._

HOOD 1: Where is he? Where the hell is he?

HOOD 2: I don't see him. Let's give him something to think about.

HOSTAGE: Please, _no…_

_But his cries fall on deaf ears. The hood grabs him with one meaty arm and tosses him out the open side door. The man's scream fills the night sky. _

HOOD 3: You idiot! He was our last hostage!

_We cut to Spiderman nimbly catching the falling man. As he does there is another rapid succession of 'click-click-whirr' noises - the entire sequence is being captured on camera._

SPIDERMAN: Do you trust me?

MAN: Why d – _aaaagh!_

_Spiderman tosses him into the air in order to continue his pursuit of the helicopter. Without even looking his wrist shoots a safety web onto a nearby rooftop, which the man falls into…bounces back up and out of…and then falls back into again. We linger on his dazed face for a second before climbing high to rejoin Spiderman again._

_Still trapped in the web, the crooks have given up trying to fly their way out of it. Realising they won't last long within the helicopter, they're now – very gingerly – climbing their way out. Spiderman swings towards them. He's spotted and they open fire, forcing Spiderman to execute another one of his ultra-flexible mid-air dodges. Web-bullets fire in response, knocking clear two of the crooks' guns. A burst of sustained webbing affixes the criminals to the web, pinning them in place._

_Click-whirr. _

_We cut to see the photographer for the first time. He's a man of about forty, and he has a woman with him. They're looking up at the high-rise dramatics going on above their heads and wearing expressions approaching awe. _

_As the man repositions the camera to snap another few pictures we see a small spider-web tattoo on his wrist. The woman has one too, in the same place._

_A police helicopter finally emerges on the scene, powerful searchlight illuminating proceedings. One of the crooks, the pilot, who has climbed to the top of the web like a rope ladder, looks down at Spiderman coming up after him. He levels his gun at the police helicopter, to Spiderman's horror._

PILOT: Can they dodge like you can?

SPIDERMAN: _Don't_-

_A single shot rings out. The pilot twitches and slowly, ever so slowly topples from his perch. We follow his fall in slow-mo until he's caught, gently, by Spiderman and set down on a nearby rooftop. The man coughs blood as Spiderman checks his pulse and the entry wound of the bullet, somewhere around the sternum._

PILOT: Guess they really…_can't _dodge…huh?

SPIDERMAN: You'll be alright.

PILOT: You got…my cousin…too.

SPIDERMAN: You've gotta hold still.

PILOT: You know something? This _really _hurts.

_And with that, he slips away and dies. Spiderman reaches over and closes his eyelids. As he does the police helicopter rises above the roof of the building, shining the searchlight on the body._

POLICE LOUDSPEAKER: REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE…

_Spiderman's nowhere to be seen, however. We cut to the interior of the police helicopter, where the officer speaking into the loudspeaker curses._

_There's a knock to his left. Instinctively, he turns his head…and recoils in shock. Spiderman forcibly opens the side door of the helicopter. The sniper attempts to react, but his gun is slapped away. Spiderman grabs him. The pilot, unable to let go of the controls, is forced to witness._

SPIDERMAN: I had things under control. I was about to bring him in for you, do your job for you, and I would have left him _alive_.

SNIPER: They were throwing people out the door!

SPIDERMAN: For _me_ to catch.

_With a squeeze of his hand he destroys the sniper rifle._

SPIDERMAN: Next time you wanna help me…don't.

_And with that, he's gone. _

**Act 1, Scene 6**

_Peter's grotty apartment. It looks as basic and cramped as when we last saw it, but there's a few ever-so-subtle changes; a few feminine touches, the legacies of Mary Jane's occasional stopovers. We linger on a few of them – a vase of flowers; a tapered candle, etc._

_Peter enters the apartment. He looks troubled and weary. He slumps onto the bed and stares at the ceiling for a moment. When he closes his eyes, we see a subliminal flash of the dead pilot breathing his last. Peter's eyes open. He's clearly pained, and when his eyes close again we see why – he's remembering seeing his uncle Ben lose his battle with life, the tragedy that sent him on the path to being a superhero._

_We white-out to Uncle Ben's car – the setup should be the same as this scene from Spiderman 2._

BEN: Peter...you came back.

PETER: I was wrong, Uncle Ben. I couldn't stop being Spiderman.

BEN: I know, Pete.

PETER: I let you down. I'm sorry.

BEN: Son, you've never let me down.

_There are tears in Peter's eyes. Clearly he wants to believe Ben, but he can't._

PETER: Because of me…

BEN: No. Because of _you_, people have hope.

PETER: A man died tonight.

BEN: Five people lived.

PETER: Numbers? Is that what it's about?

BEN: It's about doing what you can to make things better. Not to atone, Peter, but because that's the person you are. With great power…

PETER: …I know. Comes great responsibility.

BEN: And great potential. Be true to Spiderman, but remember he's just the mask. Peter Parker is the real hero. At least…he always was to me.

_Peter's tears shine, but he looks grateful. _

BEN: Aren't you gonna answer that?

PETER: Answer…?

_We cut back to Peter's apartment. He snaps out of the dream/vision and realises the front door is being knocked._

PETER: Who is it?

MARY JANE (V/O): Room service.

_Peter smiles. As he does, we cut to outside the door. Mary Jane is there, smiling, heavily disguised though in a headscarf and long coat. _

PETER (V/O): Come in.

_She does so. Peter's not there. She glances to the left and right, and then gives a little jump and a squeal as Peter descends from the ceiling, upside down. We close on their faces and their lips especially – their positions are identical to the famous kiss from the first movie._

MARY JANE: I never get tired of that…

PETER: I am so sorry about tonight.

MARY JANE: Ssh. I caught the news. I know.

PETER: I wanted to be there.

MARY JANE: Don't worry tiger, you were. See that's the thing…you're not an empty seat anymore, no matter whether you're there or not.

_She kisses him again and then takes off her scarf and coat. They look at each other for a moment and then MJ is scooped up in Peter's arms and carried along – with Peter walking on the ceiling – to the bed. He deposits her on the quilt and detaches himself from his grip so he's above her. One more kiss…_

…_and, discreetly, we fade out._

**Act 1, Scene 7**

_The Brooklyn Bridge. Spiderman lands on one of the girders. He looks up to see the Goblin standing above him, with Mary-Jane dangling from his left arm and a cable attached to a cable car full of children in his right. It is, of course, the end sequence from the first Spiderman movie._

GOBLIN: Spiderman! _This_ is why only fools are heroes...because you never know when some lunatic will come along with a sadistic choice.

_Terrified, Mary-Jane screams._

GOBLIN: Let die the woman you love...or suffer the little children.

_The children in the cable car scream._

CHILD 1: Save us!

GOBLIN: Make your choice...and see how heroes are rewarded.

SPIDERMAN: Don't do it, Goblin!

GOBLIN: We are who we choose to be! Now..._choose!_

_He releases MJ and the cable. And here is where things go wrong. Spiderman moves, sprinting and diving from the summit, to catch MJ and swing across to catch the car magnificently..._

_...except that he's not Spiderman anymore. The moment he jumped from the bridge, he's Peter Parker pre-Spiderman, wimpy nerd, glasses, the whole works. He reaches out a hand to web something, anything, and nothing happens. We see a flash of Mary-Jane's terrified face as she falls to her death, shortly before Peter himself, screaming, impacts the freezing waters below-_

_-we cut to Peter's apartment, Peter's bed. He sits bolt upright._

PETER: NOOOOOOOOOOO!

_Mary-Jane is up and beside him in an instant. Out the window we see lights go on across the street. Distant shouts of resentment filter through._

MARY-JANE: Peter...Peter, sssh, Peter...it was just a nightmare.

_Peter runs a hand through his hair, his head between his knees. His whole body is shivering. _

LANDLORD (V/O, FROM DOWNSTAIRS): Parker! Damn you, _one more time _and you are OUT, you hear me! Crazy son of a bitch!

_Mary-Jane makes a face in the direction of the doorway. She hugs Peter, who's still trembling. Realisation dawns._

MARY-JANE: Again?

PETER: Again.

MARY-JANE: Peter, that's four times this month.

PETER: (_getting out of bed and fixing himself a glass of water_) I know.

MARY-JANE: I have to ask, Peter...why always the Goblin? Why do you never dream about Octavius, or any of the others?

_Peter pauses with the glass at his lips._

PETER: Because I didn't want to kill any of the others.

_He downs the water. We see Mary-Jane looking on, concerned._

**Act 1, Scene 8**

_A picture of Mary Jane. A finger touches it. We follow the finger along the hand until we see the touch belongs to John Jameson. He's floating in the shuttle, looking at the picture with anger and longing. His fellow astronaut –Richard Stevens– notices this._

STEVENS: (_makes the 'Psycho' stabbing noise) _Colonel sir, with all due respect – get over it!

JOHN: I'm sorry – _how_ many beautiful girls have jilted you at the altar again?

STEVENS: Blah blah. Get your mind back on the mission, superstar.

_Chang, a pretty Asian female and the third astronaut, floats into the chamber._

CHANG: Loverboy pining again?

STEVENS: As per.

CHANG: Who'd she dump you for anyway? I mean, who the hell does a girl dump a millionaire underwear model astronaut for? Superman?

_We see John frown slightly at this, as if a new thought has occurred to him._

JOHN: She didn't 'dump' me 'for' anyone. She just wasn't ready. She needed some distance.

STEVENS: Well buddy, you're a hundred thousand miles from her now. If that doesn't qualify as 'distance', then maybe it just wasn't meant to be…

_A light begins to flash on the console. _

CHANG: We're coming up on the asteroid.

JOHN: Light the fires. I'll raise Houston.

STEVENS: If MJ calls, what should I tell her?

JOHN: How about _go to hell_?

_We leave the shuttle and fly ahead to the asteroid. It's your usual asteroid terrain; pitted, volcanic, steam and vapours rising, the whole massive rock tumbling through space. But in one pitted depression on the surface, something incongruous bubbles; it resembles a small reservoir of black tar, and most worryingly of all, it pulses from within, as if shaken by an interior heartbeat._

_As if it's hibernating…_

**Act 1, Scene 9**

_Peter sits down for a university lecture along with his many classmates. The general hubbub of student white noise fills the air, but Peter Parker is an oasis of calm amidst it all. This is Peter as we've never seen him since he first discovered his superpowers – a happy, relaxed young man with a confidence about him._

_A middle-aged woman walks to the lectern._

WOMAN: I'm sorry to announce that Dr Connors will not be available today to give the lecture. His notes will be available in full from the website, which I'm sure you all use _daily_ so I don't need to say any more. Enjoy your free time and use it –

…_she's drowned out by the mass cheer and exodus as two-hundred plus students suddenly realise they have two and a half unexpected hours of afternoon freedom._

WOMAN-wisely.

_She turns to go and is surprised to see Peter._

WOMAN: Yes…Parker, isn't it?

PETER: It's not like Dr Connors to miss a lecture. Is he OK?

_A shadow crosses her face momentarily which Peter notices. He doesn't comment._

WOMAN: He's fine. Just a little tired out. I'll be sure to report your keenness to him.

PETER: He'll be here on Thursday?

WOMAN: (_forced smile_) I don't see why not. Now if you'll excuse me…

_She bustles off. Pete stares after her and makes as if to follow her but is distracted by a ringing noise. He pulls a mobile phone from his pants._

PETER: Hello?

_We cut to Mary Jane. She's on-set somewhere in a studio, with a fake Brooklyn Bridge in the background. During the following conversation we flit back and forth between Peter and MJ as she walks around the set and he leaves the university campus._

MARY JANE: Morning, tiger. Guess you finally remembered to use this present.

PETER: I'd be happier if I paid its bills…

MARY JANE: Don't start – it's a gift. Checked today's papers?

PETER: Not yet.

MARY JANE: You should.

_Peter picks up the New York Sentinel from a newsstand. It reads WEBBED WONDER BUSTS HELICOPTER BANDITS, and comes complete with a picture of Spiderman saving the falling girl. Alongside it the Bugle screams SUPER-MENACE LEAVES ONE MAN DEAD, THREE INJURED._

MARY JANE: And hey, I have a surprise for you. Actually I have two.

PETER: Oh yeah?

MARY JANE: You're going to that society fundraiser tonight, right? Well guess who's going too, as guest of the network…?

PETER: That's great! I'll see you there! We can… (_he falters_)…pretend like we don't know each other and…

MARY JANE: Hey – you're one of my oldest friends and everyone knows it. Besides, Jameson will want plenty of publicity shots for the sitcom launch, even if he _does _hate my guts. You'll be at my beck and call quite a bit tonight, mister…under one condition.

PETER: Which is?

MARY JANE: As long as you and Harry promise to behave.

_Peter stops walking, which is probably not the best idea in the middle of a New York street. He comes to his senses just in time to escape being flattened by onrushing traffic._

PETER: Harry's going…?

**Act 1, Scene 10**

_The party. Mary Jane stands outside, looking into the New York night. A cab pulls up beside her and deposits Peter, who's buttoning his shirt and adjusting his tie._

PETER: Robbery.

MARY JANE: It's OK. Come on, it's just started anyway.

_Inside, the party's in full swing. It's your typical society bash, similar to the one in Spiderman 2; waiters with cocktail trays, the crème de la crème of New York socialites, including one J. Jonah Jameson, who's being led around by his wife. He looks inordinately distracted._

POSH MAN: Jameson, you old rogue! How's life in the tabloids! Spotted Bigfoot yet?

JAMESON: She's over by the wine stand.

POSH MAN (_looking_): How dare you! That's my wife!

JAMESON: What's your point?

_The posh man gasps in horror. Jameson's wife drags him away._

JAMESON'S WIFE: Jonah! Behave!

JAMESON: Our son is up there in space making history and I have to make smalltalk with these no-lifes!

JAMESON'S WIFE: (_whispers_)These no-lifes include _The Bugle's_ majority shareholders, and John isn't scheduled to reach the asteroid for another eight hours.

JAMESON: (_grumbles_)If they invented nosebags for wine this place would look like the Kentucky Derby.

_The crowd parts at that moment to reveal Mary Jane and Peter walking along. They immediately endeavour to look un-couple-like. Mary Jane even poses for a picture, which Peter takes with all his photographer gusto._

JAMESON: Parker! I'm not paying you to stand around taking pictures!

PETER: Uh…yes you are.

JAMESON: I'm paying you to _mingle _and capture a slice of New York life! In tomorrow's paper I wanna look at these pictures and feel like I was there!

PETER: But you…(_sighs_), yes Mr Jameson.

JAMESON: Good! Get going! Stop! Take our picture! And try not to make my wife look fat!

_Peter does so. We get a picture of J. Jonah beaming his usual mile-wide grin and his wife glowering dangerously at him. _

JAMESON: Now go!

_Peter leaves. As he does so his hand surreptitiously reaches out and squeezes Mary Jane's. She watches him go, realising she's been left with the parents of the man she jilted at the altar. _

MARY JANE: So how's-

JAMESON: Oh, go to hell.

JAMESON'S WIFE: (_passionately_)Yes, go to hell!

_Jameson looks at his wife, shocked._

JAMESON: Behave.

_And they're gone, leaving Mary Jane bemused and dazed in equal parts. She looks a little lost for the first time amongst the sea of mostly inebriated faces. There's a wine counter nearby and she wanders over, as much for somewhere to go as anything else. As she arrives she spots-_

MARY JANE: Harry!

_Harry finishes off his glass of wine in a gulp. He turns to her and smiles, and it's a genuine smile._

HARRY: MJ. Are you a sight for sore eyes. C'mere.

_They hug._

HARRY: I heard about the sitcom.

MARY JANE: Well, I'm not the headliner, but it's nice. How are things with you?

HARRY: They froze me out of the Oscorp board. We lost three-quarters of our assets in the Octavius project. No company out there will touch me. So I have no job and no reputation. But hey, the wine's free, right?

MARY JANE: Oh Harry…I didn't know. I'm so sorry.

HARRY: I know, MJ. Thanks. (_he smiles weakly_) It all seems such a long time since we were all in school, and all I had to worry about was if my Dad was gonna freak over another F grade.

MARY JANE: I know…I was with Flash. God…

HARRY: I saw Flash two months ago, did I tell you?

MARY JANE: No! How is he?

HARRY: His knee ligaments gave out halfway through his second semester at college. A few pro sides were interested apparently until then. He had to drop out.

MARY JANE: Oh...wow. He must be…a pro career was all he ever talked about.

HARRY: He seemed OK. He said he was doing fine.

MARY JANE: He said that?

HARRY: Yeah. That, and 'do you want fries with that?'

_MJ reacts. Harry picks up a glass of wine. We see MJ struggle to contain guilty laughter and fail. Even as she laughs she's horrified at herself. Harry grins._

HARRY: Oh come on. He was a jerk who never treated you right…

MARY JANE: I know.

HARRY: I guess Flash and I _do _have something in common after all.

MARY JANE: Oh Harry, please…not tonight.

HARRY: I just want to apologize.

MARY JANE: And I accept. Now let's…let's just have a drink and enjoy ourselves.

HARRY: (_bitterly_) Enjoy myself? The only reason I was invited is so I could be stared at. Look, there he is – the boy who blew his father's empire.

MARY JANE: Harry…

HARRY: I should never have let you go, MJ. I know that now. I was a fool who thought you were just some pretty girl. Now I know you're much more than that. Can we give it another try, you and me? Please.

_As he says this a camera flash goes off at them. It's Peter, who's arrived on the scene with perfect timing. He and Harry regard each other for a long, long moment._

HARRY: (_sarcasm dripping_) Hey, buddy.

PETER: Harry.

MARY JANE: Well you two have obviously worked out the tensions between you. I'm _so _glad.

_She's called by a large man in a tuxedo, the sitcom's director._

DIRECTOR: Mary Jane!

MARY JANE: Duty calls, boys. Have fun.

_She waltzes off, leaving Harry and Peter behind. They circle each other subconsciously, each man's eyes never leaving the other's._

HARRY: Making the papers I see.

PETER: Making moves on MJ, Harry?

HARRY: What's it to you? You had your chance and you blew it, Pete. Now look at her. She wouldn't touch you now. Especially if she knew how much of a _freak_ you really are.

PETER: Just leave MJ out of this. Understand?

HARRY: You think I would hurt her?

PETER: I don't know. But if you do, I'll kill you.

HARRY: Is that a threat from you, or from Spiderman?

PETER: Both of us.

HARRY: Spiderman making death threats. This is a new angle for you, Pete. You really ready to kill?

_Peter doesn't reply. Harry's grin stretches a little. He begins circling Pete._

HARRY: What would the papers say? In fact, what would the papers say if I went to them with Spiderman's _real_ identity?

PETER: You've known for months and you haven't gone to them.

HARRY: Wondering why?

PETER: Yeah.

_Harry closes the distance between them so they're toe-to-toe. When he speaks it's right into Peter's face. The tension between them is bubbling over._

HARRY: Because I know what would happen to Aunt May, to MJ. And I don't want that. They've been good to me. This is between me and the bug. No-one else.

PETER: Your father-

HARRY: I know. I know exactly who he was. _What _he was.

PETER: You know? Then you must know why-

HARRY: He was _my father! _

PETER: He was a murdering psychopath. He tried to kill MJ. He hurt Aunt May to get to me. You know all that too?

_Harry swings a punch at Peter. Peter's spider-sense allows him to block the swing, catching Harry's fist easily. Furious, Harry tries with the other fist and that too is caught in Peter's grip. _

HARRY: Let me _go_!

PETER: You can't win this, Harry. Get over it.

_Two security personnel approach. _

SECURITY 1: Is there a problem here, gentlemen?

_Peter releases Harry._

PETER: No problem.

SECURITY 2: I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave, sir.

_Harry smiles cruelly at this._

PETER: I've done nothing wrong…

SECURITY 2: Not you, sir. (_to Harry_) If you'll come with us?

HARRY: _What _did you say?

SECURITY 1: We saw you swing at this gentleman here. This is a high-class function, sir, and we want it to proceed smoothly. We hope you'll co-operate.

HARRY: Don't you know who I am?

SECURITY 2: No, sir, I do not. Now come with us, please.

_They each take one of his arms. Peter stands back and says nothing. Harry fixes him with a murderous glare._

HARRY: Everyone's going to know who I am, Parker. Believe it.

_He's led away. Peter stares after him as he goes, obviously deeply troubled._

**Act 1, Scene 11**

_The party is ending, and guests are slipping away to their respective transports, mostly stretch limousines. Jameson fairly drags his wife to their limo, a hideously tasteless colourful homage to the Bugle, replete with mock headlines emblazoned on it. _

JAMESON: My office! Step on it!

JAMESON'S WIFE: (_pleased_)You're finally bringing me to your office?

JAMESON: Good point. Driver, drop off my wife at a cab rank on the way.

JAMESON'S WIFE: Don't bother – I'll walk!

_She gets out of the limo and storms off. Jameson stares after her, baffled._

JAMESON: What was _that _about? (_to driver_) Go!

_He speeds off. Elsewhere, MJ emerges, the director on her arm. From her body language she's clearly a little weary of his attentions, and (after several attempts) manages to extricate herself from his grip and join the rest of the dispersing crowd._

_We cut to Harry, who's sitting on the pavement with his back against the window of an all-night pizzeria. He looks like a down-and-out, utterly depressed and pathetic. He glimpses MJ through the crowds and manages to get to his feet and dust himself off. He calls to her but she doesn't hear, so he follows her._

_We go back to MJ, who's still glancing around. Something attracts her attention from an alleyway, and she – surprisingly fearlessly, for a woman who's been in mortal peril many times now – wanders in…_

…_and right into Peter's arms. He's in full Spiderman outfit except for the mask, which is why he's lurking in the shadows. MJ runs her hands over his chest._

MARY JANE: One thing I wanna know, tiger…where do you keep your other clothes?

PETER: Around.

_He points upwards. There's a small bag made entirely of webbing suspended high above the alley. One of Peter's shirtsleeves hangs limply from it._

MARY JANE: Wanna go back to my place, mister?

PETER: What about my clothes?

MARY JANE: You're already wearing more than you need.

_They kiss. When it ends Peter tenses his legs and springs high into the air, taking MJ with him, and leaving behind an empty alleyway…_

…_not quite. Harry Osborn emerges from the shadows, having seen all, having heard all. He looks like a man who hit rock bottom and fell through it. He tries to take a few steps and falls to his knees._

GOBLIN: (V/O) Harry…

HARRY: (_sobs_) Oh God, no…

_His father's face emerges from the shadows, only half-there, only an apparition, but one contorted with hatred and glee. It whispers to him seductively, insanely._

GOBLIN: She _knows_, Harry. She _knows _about him and _still_ she doesn't care. How they must be laughing at you now. _Look_ at you! Pathetic! On your knees in an alley! Is _this_ the son I raised! Is _this_ the boy worthy to call my own! You're no son of mine.

HARRY: I AM YOUR SON!

GOBLIN: Then _prove _it, Harry!

HARRY: (_sobbing brokenly_)Tell me, Father. Tell me what to do…

**Act 1, Scene 12**

_Harry's mansion. We see him open up the mirror and go into the secret chamber beyond. He approaches the serum containers and gingerly lifts one down, cradling it as if it were a nuclear reactor. As soon as he has lifted it from its place a steel door slides down over the mirror entrance, sealing off the secret chamber. A computerised voice plays._

COMPUTER: Chamber sealed.

_A hitherto hidden panel in the wall opens, with a hole the shape of the serum container inside. Harry places the container within. The green liquid drains into an unseen reservoir. _

COMPUTER: Reaction catalysation in progress. Vapour release beginning.

_Harry strips himself to the waist, taking huge breaths. From nozzles in the walls green mist begins to leak. _

HARRY: I love you, father.

_The gas hits him and he begins to choke, falling to his knees. He can't breathe. His eyes bulge from their sockets. We see his veins stand out all over his body. He fights for breath, crawling on his hands and knees toward the steel door, scrabbling on it for purchase, beating his hands against it as his struggles grow weaker and weaker until he collapses against it, his body limp. _

COMPUTER: Vapour release complete.

_We stay on Harry's non-moving body. The Goblin mask his father wore is still there on its display stand, and we hear the faint echoes of his maniacal laughter…_

**Act 1, Scene 13**

_An office, much like Jameson's, but with a few more 'homey' touches; family pictures on the walls, a few flowers etc. A banner across the top of one wall reads THE NEW YORK SENTINEL – THE TRUTH, AND PROUD OF IT._

_Peter sits across a desk from a middle-aged man with a comfortable stomach. We see a golden nametag on the desk proclaim him as 'Lynas Stewart, Editor-in-Chief'. The man is thumbing through a portfolio of Peter's photographs, much like Jameson did in Spiderman 2, but where Jameson was cruelly dismissive, this man is positive and complementary._

LYNAS: These are excellent! You have an eye for the human angle, Mr. Parker!

PETER: (_slightly disbelieving_) You…like them?

LYNAS: Yes, yes I do. Now Mr. Parker as you know we're a new paper and New York is a hard market to crack. That being the case I want the best people possible, and you strike me as a valuable asset. I'd like you to work for us – we have a vacancy in our-

PETER: You're offering me a job?

LYNAS: (_laughs_) Mr. Parker you seem to delight in repeating the obvious. So would you be interested? What are you making currently, salary-wise?

PETER: I'm…I'm not actually salaried. _The Bugle _gives me freelance work.

LYNAS: _The Bugle_? Jameson wouldn't know talent if it smacked him in the jaw – and now _there's _a photograph New York's media would love to see. Tell you what Mr. Parker, how does 40 thousand dollars a year to be our assistant photographic editor sound to you? Obviously you'll need time off for your studies but that should be fine.

_Peter's eyebrows raise. He tries to speak and finds he can't. He tries again, and still he can't. We see Lynas frowning quizzically at him. Finally Peter clears his throat and says very calmly-_

PETER: Fine.

LYNAS: So it's settled! We'll get the paperwork out of the way in the next few days. You'll work out of your camera mostly but you'll have an office in the building when you need to work here. I'll get one of the runners to show you.

PETER: Okay.

LYNAS: Are you alright, son? You look a little dazed.

PETER: Fine.

LYNAS: Oh – you're quite famous for your close relationship with Spiderman, aren't you?

_This wakes Peter up a little. He's unsure how to react._

PETER: Yes…

LYNAS: Well obviously we'll be wanting you to continue your coverage of him as much as possible. We need to get the message out there that he's been misrepresented, by _The Bugle _in particular – that damn Jameson, he may sell newspapers but he is to journalism what Skin-e-max is to _Citizen Kane_.

PETER: You think Spiderman's a hero?

LYNAS: Oh I know he is. Now I am incredibly busy so if you'll excuse me Mr. Park-

PETER: Peter. Call me Peter.

_Lynas stands to shake Peter's hand warmly._

LYNAS: Peter, good to meet you. Hope you'll enjoy working for us.

PETER: Thank you. I think I will.

_We cut to Peter being shown around his office by a young intern. He can barely believe his eyes, or his luck. When the intern leaves he sits back in his chair and opens the window blinds. A glorious New York afternoon spills into his office, bathing him in warm sunshine. He basks in the glow for a second…_

…_and then his spider-sense tingles. Through the crowds below he picks out a car pulling up outside a jewellers. He leans against the window to get a better look…and finds that it has a central pivot, allowing him easy access to the street outside._

PETER: (_pleasantly impressed_)Hmm. Handy…

_He closes his office door and pulls the blinds shut, tugging off his shirt. Unusually for Peter Parker, life is good, and it shows – he has a smile on his face as he sheds his clothes and pulls on the mask._

SPIDERMAN: Work is fun.

**Act 1, Scene 14**

_Harry's house. The ornate mirror. All is still for a few moments, and then – BAM! A steel door is knocked flying through the glass, sailing through the air, taking tables and chairs with it. _

_Through the smoke that follows, a flash of green shoots past us, trailing all-too-familiar maniacal laughter in its wake. _

_Riding his glider into New York, the Goblin has returned._

**Act 1, Scene 15**

_Aunt May's house, that night. Peter sits at the dining table while Aunt May pours tea into his cup._

AUNT MAY: Seen much of Harry lately?

PETER: He's…around, yeah.

AUNT MAY: Oh you two. You've been bickering since you were ten years old. I remember…

PETER: (_pleading_)Please, Aunt May.

_May senses Peter's not in the mood for nostalgia right now. She nods to accept his wishes and moves off to wash the dinner plates. Peter spots a letter sticking from underneath an ornament. It's a letter reading FINAL DEMAND._

AUNT MAY: Well it seems to be the only cloud in your sky lately anyway.

_Peter reacts._

AUNT MAY: You must think I was born yesterday, Peter Parker! A blind woman twice my age could see you're as happy as you've been in a long time. Do you want to tell me why, or should I just tell you?

_Peter grins, finishing his tea and moving to help his aunt with the dishes. They fall into a well-oiled routine born of many years practice, and both look a little happier for the reminder of old times._

AUNT MAY: So it's true. Good for you. Good for _both _of you.

PETER: You have to promise me you won't tell anyone, Aunt May. It's…difficult for us, and it would be even more difficult if-

AUNT MAY: One condition.

PETER: Name it.

AUNT MAY: Dinner. All three of us. Buys an old lady's silence every time.

PETER: Deal. It can be a double celebration.

AUNT MAY: She's pregnant!

_A plate slips from her hands. In spider-time, Peter stoops, catches it and puts it back into his Aunt's fingers, all before she even registers that she's dropped it or that her nephew has moved. She blinks slightly and frowns, but shrugs off the strange sensation._

PETER: No, she's not pregnant! It's what I came over to tell you – I got a job at the _New York Sentinel._ A real job. Forty thousand dollars a year.

AUNT MAY: (_delighted_)Oh my goodness! Peter! I'm so proud of you!

_She throws her arms around him and hugs him. _

PETER: So I was thinking…I want to get a mortgage.

AUNT MAY: Well it's about time you moved out of that disgraceful little hovel!

PETER: It's not for me, Aunt May. It's on this house. I want to buy it for you.

AUNT MAY: Oh _Peter_…no...

PETER: I understand why you refused MJ's help, Aunt May, but this is my _home_. I can't let you lose it. I won't.

AUNT MAY: (_weakly_)It's not so bad as that…

PETER: You're a terrible liar, May Parker.

AUNT MAY: Peter, I can't let you do this. You've worked so hard and to give it up, Peter…no. I can look after myself. You have your own life now and your own blessings and problems.

PETER: (_good naturedly_)Aunt May, I'm not taking no for an answer. Don't make me beat you with a stick. Tomorrow we're going to the bank to get things rolling.

AUNT MAY: Are they still offering that free toaster?

PETER: We'll check.

AUNT MAY: I'm so glad you'll be working for the _Sentinel _and not the _Bugle_. I can't abide the way they treat that nice boy.

PETER: Spiderman?

AUNT MAY: Who else? Calling him a menace. (_she clucks disapprovingly_) Shame on them. The _Sentinel _is finally telling people the truth. It's so good to see Spiderman's finally getting the treatment he deserves.

PETER: I guess it is…

**Act 1, Scene 16**

_Next morning, and a happy little montage of Peter, dressed in his fineries (still pretty cheap-looking, but at least pressed and ironed to the best of his ability), coming to work. He enters the 'Sentinel' building and is greeted with a cheery 'Good morning Mr. Parker' from the two female receptionists. He gets into the elevator and receives friendly nods from all within. Entering his office, he sits behind his desk, just grinning inanely. Gingerly he reaches out and picks up the phone._

SWITCHBOARD: Switchboard – what number, please?

PETER: Ahhh…doesn't matter, sorry.

_He puts the phone down. We see that on his desk there are a few executive toys – a Newton's cradle and a stress-relieving squeezable head. He begins playing with the head, still hardly able to believe his good fortune. His telephone rings. He looks slightly flustered for a moment before picking it up._

PETER: Hello…Peter Parker?

LYNAS: Peter! Settled in OK?

PETER: (_weakly in understatement_)Yeah….everything's…great.

LYNAS: Need you for your first assignment. Meet me in the main lobby!

_We cut to Peter in the elevator. It 'dings' open at a floor and in steps Spiderman! Peter at first doesn't register this but he casually glances across and-_

PETER: Aaagh!

SPIDER-GUY: Jeez, man! You scared the hell outta me!

PETER: Sorry. Just…startled me is all.

_He resumes staring ahead as best he can. It's very like the elevator scene in Spiderman 2 (obviously) except that this time it's Peter doing all the glancing over._

PETER: Cool Spidey outfit.

SPIDER-GUY: Yeah, I hope they let me keep it afterward. Could be a hit in the bedroom, know what I mean?

PETER: (_with a far-off grin_)Most definitely.

_Something the spider-guy said registers to Peter._

PETER: Keep it after what?

_At that moment the elevator reaches the lobby and dings open. Lynas is standing there waiting. He's as inordinately cheery as ever, and practically drags both Peter and the Spider-guy from the elevator's interior._

LYNAS: Peter! I see you've met Bob!

PETER: Bob?

SPIDER-GUY: Oh, this is the photographer? Nice to meet you man.

PETER: I'm shooting Spiderman?

LYNAS: Well, not the _real _Spiderman obviously. Bob here makes quite the living impersonating him though, so he's the closest they have.

PETER: (_slightly concerned now_)Have for what?

**Act 1, Scene 17**

_Two armed hoods burst into a shop. A woman screams. The shopkeeper puts his hands in the air, terrified. Everything is exaggerated with the sheen of extremely bad acting in this scene – the hoods are excessively dramatic with their guns and the woman's scream is your classic horror movie hysterical woman screech._

DRAMATIC VOICE-OVER: New…York…City.

HOOD 1: Gimme the money or you die, citizen!

SHOPKEEPER: You'll pay for this, hoodlum!

_Outside, we glimpse a flash of blue and red._

DRAMATIC VOICE-OVER: _My _City…

HOOD 2: (_pointing_)Look!

SHOPKEEPER: Justice comes on swift wings.

_In comes 'Spiderman'…but as we've never seen him before – namely, swinging on wires. He lands slightly awkwardly and stares at the two hoodlums, who (rather than simply shooting him) stare back, frozen in an 'oh no!' kinda way. _

SPIDER-GUY: Surrender now, or face the consequences.

HOOD 1: Never!

_They rush Spiderman (again, puzzlingly ignoring their guns) and there follows the most hilariously unconvincing fight sequence in history. Punches miss by acres. Blows are overblown. Kicks are telegraphed so far in advance that some cave paintings contained reviews of them. We finish on the two hoods lying defeated on the ground, and 'Spiderman' standing above them with his foot resting on their unconscious bodies. The hysterical woman throws her arms around Spiderman._

WOMAN: Oh, my hero…

_Spiderman extricates himself and cups her cheek with his hand._

SPIDER-GUY: Sorry ma'am, but I belong to the city.

_He turns to address the camera (we now see the camera and the camera crew, and indeed the entire shop set, just in case we were in any doubt of this all being phony_).

SPIDER-GUY: And when I'm fighting crime, there's nothing better to quench my thirst for justice than an ice-cold Pepsi.

_He holds up a Pepsi can. _

DIRECTOR: …and cut!

_Bob takes off his spider mask. _

BOB: You know all that '_I belong to the city_' stuff was just me playing the role, right hun?

WOMAN: Yeah? Well so was me draping myself over you, hero.

_She lights up a cigarette and walks away. Bob stares after her wistfully and a little sadly (we get the impression that Bob's not having quite the sexual success he envisioned with this suit, which might be to do with the fact that he's a small, balding man who's not exactly endowed with movie-star looks), before he's accosted by the director._

_We cut to Peter watching the whole scene from the sidelines. To say his expression was comical would be to greatly understate matters. He's utterly and completely flabbergasted by what he's just witnessed. _

LYNAS: (_whispering_) Yikes. Let's just grab the publicity shots and get outta here.

PETER: But…it's a _commercial_.

LYNAS: Yeah, it's a trailblazer I hope. Oh sure the quality is abominable, but it's presenting Spiderman as a hero, and that's a step in the right direction.

PETER: But no-one asked him.

LYNAS: (_laughs_) Not like he publishes his cellphone number, Peter. Not like he can sue either. I wouldn't have involved the _Sentinel _but as I say at least it shows him in a positive light.

PETER: I suppose so…

_Bob wanders over to them and stops at water-cooler to fill a plastic cup. Peter can't help but stare at him. It would be hard to look less like a superhero than Bob._

PETER: How did you get the job?

BOB: I had my own suit.

PETER: Right.

DIRECTOR: Bob! Get your worthless ass over here!

BOB: (_aside, to Peter and Lynas_) Guy's a complete jerk. Coming…

_Bob obediently trots over. N.B. the megalomaniac director is being played by Sam Raimi._

LYNAS: Shame in one way for him. Pepsi were willing to stump up 250 grand for this endorsement, but who do they pay it to? Besides, would Spiderman even take it? What does he need money for, right?

_Someone calls him over and he walks off, leaving Peter to stare into empty space. _

PETER: Aunt May…

**Act 1, Scene 18**

_Mary Jane's trailer interior. She's being interviewed for one of those 'Entertainment Weekly' style magazine programmes. The interviewer is a very nervous Eddie Brock._

EDDIE: So Mary-Jane, or should I call you 'MJ'-

MARY-JANE: Mary-Jane will be fine, Eddie.

EDDIE: (_nervously_)Ha ha! Right! So how does it feel to be the young actress all of New York is talking about?

MARY-JANE: I don't know how true that is.

EDDIE: Well you won the 'Young Actress Of The Month' award in my column. Did I tell you Jameson gave me a column in the _Bugle_?

MARY-JANE: (_genuinely trying to be nice_)That's so great.

BROCK: Well, it would be if I had any decent stories…speaking of that, you're also in the running for 'Most Eligible Bachelorette 2006'…unless there's something you're not telling your admirers…

_Mary-Jane's clearly less than happy at having to lie – especially since given the rather greasy way Eddie says it, he clearly counts himself amongst those fans – but she does so as best she can._

MARY-JANE: I wish, Eddie. Look…I'm due back on set in an hour and I'm kinda beat, so I was gonna grab some-

BROCK: Sure, sure.

_We see a flash of rejection in his eyes; he's used to getting the brush-off, we sense, and he's growing increasingly weary of it. He leaves Mary-Jane's trailer and we follow him as he walks back to a rather beat-up car…with a ticket on the windshield._

EDDIE: Aw, come _on_…

_He takes the ticket and stuffs it in his pocket, opening the car door and throwing his notepad from Mary-Jane's 'interview' in the back. We catch sight of a few books on the passenger's side seat – 'Surge Ahead! Your Guide To A Better Life!' and the like. He has a picture hanging beside a set of furry dice of him with his arm around a girl. It's not a lovey-dovey sweetheart picture – the girl in this image looks singularly disinterested. Eddie, on the other hand, is enthusiasm personified._

_He tries to start the engine. It splutters and shudders indignantly. Eddie slams the heel of his palm against the wheel._

EDDIE: Worthless piece of sh-

_His mobile rings. He fishes it out. _

EDDIE: Hey, my man! I've just come from Mary-Jane Watson's trailer – I'll be over to you in about an…what? Hey, come on, you can't do this…we had an agreement! Who's gonna publicise your album now, huh? (_pause_) Yeah, I read his column. He's a hack. (_pause_) What do readership numbers matter? (_pause_) Well, _you _might think so…fine. I'll have to bump some of the others up my list. You'll regret this.

_He ends the call, casts the phone aside and stares for a moment into space before closing his eyes and putting his head in his hands. We leave him sitting like that._

**Act 1, Scene 19**

_Two very Secret Service types, complete with suits and shades, sit on either side of J. Jonah Jameson. He looks a little irked by their presence. On the other side of his desk an official-looking man is giving him a stern lecture._

SECRET SERVICE MAN: Please understand Mr. Jameson that any further infringements of national security will result in the severest penalties you can imagine. The President was only willing to overlook the incident on this occasion because of the intervention of some…mutual friends of yours.

_Jameson smirks at this in a self-satisfied way_

JAMESON: Can I get back to watching my son now?

SECRET SERVICE MAN: As long as you agree to abide by the strict conditions we have set out-

JAMESON: I agree! Now get the hell out of my office!

_They leave. Jameson waits until they've gone then waves for everyone to come in and crowd around the viewscreen as before. . _

JAMESON: I can't believe I pay my taxes for those bozos.

ROBBIE: Oh that reminds me. Cayman Islands on line three.

JAMESON: Let them sweat!

_He switches on the viewscreen. It shows the shuttle's interior. John Jameson is piloting, his face screwed up with concentration. An interior window in the main picture – labelled 'PUBLIC FEED' – shows the shuttle drawing incredibly close to the asteroid._

JOHN JAMESON: Matching the asteroid's spin, Houston. Catching a little buffeting from micro-meteorites. Let's hope that fancy shield of yours holds up.

HOUSTON: Roger that, _Praetor._ We show shield stresses at 40. You've got plenty to spare.

JOHN JAMESON: Beginning final descent.

_We see Jonah Jameson's nails digging into his desk. A little of his all-encompassing bluster falls away and we get a glimpse of a very anxious father. This is going to be pretty damn dangerous, and Jonah knows it._

_Unnoticed by Jonah (but not by Robbie), Peter Parker slips into the room. He's carrying a small white envelope and looks a little nervous. Upon seeing the video feed, however, his scientific curiosity overruns all other emotions. He stands beside Robbie and they speak in whispers lest they attract Jonah's wrath._

PETER: Isn't the interior shuttle feed usually classified?

ROBBIE: Usually. Jonah pulled some strings…well, _snapped _some strings. What's that (_the envelope_) about? Looks official.

PETER: I got a job with the _Sentinel._

ROBBIE: It's a good paper. I like their editorials.

_They're veering close to Spiderman territory again. Peter glances across and they share another look. _

JOHN JAMESON: Two hundred feet. Looking good, Houston.

CHANG: Getting some odd readings off this rock. It's not your typical asteroid, that's for sure.

HOUSTON: Roger, _Praetor_. Keep her steady – we show shield stresses at 52.

_Abruptly the world freezes, all except for Peter Parker, who widens his eyes. His spider-sense is going off, and it's screaming for attention. He casts his eyes about the room to find the source of the danger but cannot…and it's only when he looks outside through the windows that he sees it. A small object, the size and shape of an orange, sailing through the air toward the window. Time resumes at normal rate._

PETER: BOMB!

_The windows blow in. Thankfully everyone had been assembled around the viewscreen at the far side of the office, so while everyone is blown off their feet, no-one is seriously injured._

_Jonah Jameson is the first to stagger to his feet. He looks out of the new hole in his office wall, dazed, just in time to see the Green Goblin float into view on his glider. _

JAMESON: YOU!

GOBLIN: Spread the word, Jonah! The Goblin's back, better than ever! And if Spiderman-

_As he says the word, a red and blue figure slams into him from above, and both vanish from view. Jonah runs to the edge of the hole and looks down at the two falling bodies struggling._

_We join them in mid-plummet. Spiderman headbutts the Goblin and lands two blows to his midriff._

SPIDERMAN: Someone call?

_With a roar of rage the Goblin throws him off and steadies the glider. Spiderman webs effortlessly to the nearest rooftop. The Goblin produces more and more of the little bombs and leans the stationary glider forward until at some unseen command it kicks into gear and shoots toward Spiderman. _

GOBLIN: Miss me, webhead!

_He tosses the first two bombs. Spiderman leaps high into the air as the explosions flower beneath him. He webs the nearest skyscraper and swings off, running along the side of the building (we see a quick flash of the office workers inside seeing this and running to the windows). _

_Spiderman launches himself from the building. The Goblin throws another bomb. Spiderman twists his body to avoid it and webs it as it shoots past him. Now with the bomb at the end of a webline, he twirls the webline around himself and slings it back at the Goblin, who presses a button on his wrist. The bomb explodes prematurely, blowing Spiderman backward and through the building's windows, office workers scattering aside just in time. _

_Spiderman gets to his feet and checks his mask is still on. When he realises it is, he breathes a sigh of relief._

SPIDERMAN: Not _this _time.

OFFICE WORKER 1: Get him, Spidey!

_The others chime their agreement. Spiderman sprints to the window and is gone in a flash. Everyone crowds around to watch him swing toward the Goblin. Everyone except a small man at the back, who taps his watch pointedly._

SMALL MAN: Excuse me, people? Can we get some focus back?

_For a wonder, everyone does as he says, wandering away from the window and grumbling to themselves. The small man wanders over to the broken windows and shakes his head._

SMALL MAN: (_disgustedly_) New York…

_We go back to the ongoing battle. Spiderman wrestles the Goblin from his glider. The two combatants fall fifty feet onto a rooftop where, after only the briefest of respites recovering from the fall, the fight begins again. The following dialogue takes place between blows, kicks, punches and general free-for-all._

SPIDERMAN: Why did you do it, Harry?

GOBLIN: You took away everything I had. But now look at me…strong, like my father.

SPIDERMAN: Insane like him too?

GOBLIN: He couldn't control it. I can.

SPIDERMAN: No you can't. Not forever. Listen to me, Harry. Come with me to the labs. Dr. Connors can…

GOBLIN: Aren't you _listening_ to me?

_Behind Spiderman, the glider rises into the air. Its front prongs spring out. _

GOBLIN: I want you dead. And when you are, I'm going to look after MJ and Aunt May. I'm going to be the one they turn to, because you'll be _dead_!

_Peter's spider-sense sounds. Just as his father did in the final gambit, Harry has triggered the glider to run Spiderman through, back to front. Just as he did then, Spiderman manages to somersault over it as it heads straight for Harry-_

_-who holds out a hand and stops it before it can stab him. It does not seem to cause him much effort._

GOBLIN: Besides, I've _already _seen Dr. Connors.

_He jumps on the glider and moves off to a reasonable distance, before producing a much larger bomb. We see that below him is a small park crammed with people. _

GOBLIN: Tell MJ I said hi!

SPIDERMAN: HARRY, NO!

_He drops the bomb. Spiderman dives to the edge and plummets after it, managing to get his hands around it-_

_-as it delivers a massive electric shock to his system. He writhes in agony and the pain forces him to let go. He barely manages to snake a webline and arrest his fall before he would have slammed into the pavement. Meanwhile the bomb lands amidst the throngs of park-dwellers…bounces once…twice…it flashes with activity…_

…_and dies._

_We hear the maniacal laughter of the Goblin from far above. Spiderman gets to his feet and looks up, but the Goblin is long gone. _

SPIDERMAN: No spider sense…I should have known. Damn it!

_He leaps into the air. The park's population stands around looking a little dazed and confused as to why Spiderman just landed amongst them. One small boy approaches the bomb, but before he can get there it's snaked in a webline. Spiderman dangles it at a safe height high above their heads._

SPIDERMAN: Didn't your mother tell you never to play with bombs?

_He webs off._

MAN: (_ultra enthusiastic_)Go get him, Spidey! Wooo!

_There is an embarrassed silence from the people around him. The man lowers his raised arms and attempts to walk away as casually as possible._

_We stay on Spiderman swinging through New York and hear his thoughts._

SPIDERMAN: I tried to protect him. Don't tell Harry. Don't tell Harry. And I didn't. I never thought he'd follow his father…but he has. What do I do? I know who the Goblin is, but he knows who I am too. If the world knows who Spiderman is, then MJ and Aunt May are in danger.

_We flashback to the dialogue from Act 1, Scene 9 – 'if you hurt MJ I'll kill you' 'is that a threat from Spiderman or from Peter Parker' 'both'._

SPIDERMAN: Am I ready to kill my best friend?

**Act 1, Scene 20**

_Space, the asteroid. The shuttle has landed safely. Chang and Stevens are outside in their spacesuits, bouncing around in the low gravity. John Jameson remains in the shuttle operating controls._

JOHN: Talk to me, guys. How's the weather out there.

STEVENS: A little chilly, John. Might need a sweater.

CHANG: There's some kind of localised node of those signals – two hundred yards east.

JOHN: Houston will be back in radio contact in two minutes, guys. Let's wait for confirmation on any off-route trips.

CHANG: Loosen up, John.

STEVENS: Yeah remember – you're the soldier boy. We're the scientists. You're just here to steer and make sure we don't blow ourselves out an airlock by accident.

_We cut to where the two scientists are headed – toward the strange pool we saw briefly earlier. Its surface lies still and unbroken…until it twitches. A ripple spreads out along its surface, then another…_

JOHN: Just be careful out there…we're a _long _way from home.

_The ripples have run together now, to the point where the pool almost seems to have facial features…a nose, eyes, and a gaping, grinning mouth…_

**END OF ACT ONE**


	2. Act 2

**Act 2, Scene 1**

_Mary-Jane is shutting the door of her trailer and sighing in relief. There's a knock on the roof of her trailer. _

MARY-JANE: Hello?

SPIDERMAN (OOV): Room service?

_She opens the skylight and in he scrambles, practically pouring his body through the tiny hole. Spiderman removes the mask and he's Peter again. They kiss._

MARY-JANE: What are you doing here?

PETER: Wanted to wish you luck – while I had five minutes. I'm sorry I wasn't here for your first day.

MARY-JANE: You're here _now_, aren't you?

PETER: Yeah, I know…

MARY-JANE: You didn't just come here for that, did you. Something's wrong.

PETER: Wrong?

MARY-JANE: Spider-sense isn't just restricted to superheroes, tiger. Tell me.

PETER: It's the Goblin, MJ. He's back.

_We see a quick flash of Mary-Jane falling from the end of the first movie. We come back to reality and see the haunted look in her eyes. Clearly she still has some recovering to do from that ordeal._

MARY-JANE: But you killed him.

SPIDERMAN: I told you I wanted to. He died, but I didn't kill him. That's not who I am. This Goblin is...someone else, wearing his mask and using his powers.

MARY-JANE: Someone else? Who?

_Just as Peter's about to say something in response, there's a shout from outside._

SHOUTER: It's on the big screen! It's everywhere!

_The world goes into spider-time. Peter snatches his mask up, kisses Mary-Jane on the cheek and leaps out the skylight all in an instant. Normal time resumes with Mary-Jane._

MARY-JANE: Wonder what _that's _a-

_She glances beside her and sees that Peter is gone. A frown creases her forehead and she touches her cheek where he kissed her in that briefest of moments. A sad smile appears on her lips._

MARY-JANE: Go get 'em.

**Act 2, Scene 2**

_A huge videoscreen erected in Times Square is being watched by thousands in the streets below. We see Spiderman's feet landing on a nearby ledge as he joins them. Across the bottom of the screen is the banner 'Shuttle Crisis'._

NEWSWOMAN: …live pictures now coming from NASA. No-one yet knows how the terrible accident occurred, but confirmed once again; at least one of the shuttle astronauts has been killed and the shuttle itself badly damaged. The pilot is now attempting an emergency burn back to Earth.

SPIDERMAN: Jameson…

**Act 2, Scene 3**

_Space, the shuttle. John Jameson is wrestling with controls, hitting switches and punching in commands like a man possessed. _

NASA: _Praetor, _your shield is at 92 of tolerance! Throttle down, repeat, throttle down!

JOHN JAMESON: Houston, we have exactly ninety minutes of oxygen left on this crate and over one hundred thousand miles to travel. I'm coming in full throttle.

_NASA's response is cut off by increasing static. He leaves the command chair to float into the back of the ship. The lights back here are flickering on and off wildly, creating a strange sort of rapid photography stop-motion. _

_Suddenly, a leering face looms out of the darkness! It's Stevens, dead. John curses and tows the corpse over to the nearest bulkhead, where he uses one of the affixing straps to anchor it in place. The man is still wearing his spacesuit so it's not easy. Those dead staring eyes glare accusingly at him the entire time. _

JOHN: What the hell happened to you down there…

_A hand clutches his wrist! John cries out in fear, but the hand belongs to Chang. Her eyes are wide and staring like her colleague's, but she's alive – just._

JOHN: My God…

CHANG: Brought him back…

_John steers her over to one of their extending beds. She too is wearing her spacesuit except for her head, which is uncovered. He manages to strap her down. _

JOHN: Try not to move.

CHANG: (_screaming the words through pain_)Brought him back!

JOHN: (_soothingly_)Yes. Yes, you did.

COMPUTER: Shield stresses at 97.

JOHN: What happened to you down there?

NASA: _Praetor, _respond! Status!

JOHN: Stevens is dead, Houston. Some sort of massive shock to his system. Chang carried him to the shuttle. She's injured but I can't treat her through the suit…and I'm not sure the suit isn't the only thing holding her together.

NASA: _Preator, _repeat…you're breaki…

_The signal dies through extreme interference. Chang screams. John examines her suit with his fingertips until he comes to her abdomen. There is a rip there, a tear, big enough for him to prod with a finger. _

JOHN: What the…

_When he takes his finger away, there's a black viscous substance around the tip. He reaches for a specimen jar, rips it from its Velcro holdings and manages to extricate it from his finger into the jar._

_Chang begins to shake violently. Blood comes from her mouth in streams. She chokes and splutters. _

CHANG: BROUGHT HIM BACK!

_John opens up a sealed container and grabs a syringe. He propels himself to her convulsing body and applies the syringe to her neck. _

JOHN: Sssh…don't speak. Just sleep.

_She stops convulsing and looks at him with a trace of lucidity for the first time._

CHANG: John…kill me.

JOHN: (_shocked_) What?

CHANG: It brought him back. Don't let it…bring me back. Please…

JOHN: It?

_Her eyes close and she lapses into unconsciousness. John pushes himself away from her bed, fear etched across his face._

JOHN: It?

_There is a smash of breaking glass. We cut to see that the specimen jar John placed the drop of black matter into has been broken…and not only that, but that the glass is floating on the outside, suggesting that something broke through from the inside out._

JOHN: Oh Jesus…

_We cut to Stevens' dead body. A black substance is spreading up from his neck to his chin. Black tendrils enter his head through his mouth, nose and ears…and moments later his eyes snap open. He lets loose a horrific scream of rage and what sounds disturbingly like hunger and makes to reach for John, but is prevented from doing so by the restraining belt. _

JOHN: Mother of God!

_John scrambles for the corridor connecting the cockpit to the main living quarters as the Stevens corpse struggles to free itself from its bonds. Jameson throws himself forward with every ounce of strength in his body, propelling himself with his arms and legs, swimming through the weightlessness. _

_He reaches the corridor and slams the door control, just as the Stevens corpse rips the belt free and makes a lunge for him. The door closes and Stevens' face is pressed up against the viewing window, screaming soundless rage through the foot-thick separating door. Stevens' fists pound on it, but to no avail._

COMPUTER: Shield stresses at 98. Approaching critical.

NASA: _Praetor, _respond…

_John flicks a switch. _

JOHN: Houston, we have an uncontained quarantine situation up here, code red. I'm taking immediate action to prevent planetside exposure.

NASA: Colonel, that is a negative! Prepare for remote control.

JOHN: Sorry, Houston, but I'm not landing this bird.

_He floats to the cockpit and presses a series of buttons before reaching for the throttle control toggle. With one final longing look at the Earth in the (rapidly approaching) distance, he throws the switch to maximum. _

COMPUTER: Warning. Shield stresses at 105. Breach is imminent.

_Behind John, the connecting door shudders under its assault from whatever is reanimating the Stevens corpse. _

JOHN: (_sad smile_)You don't say…

**Act 2, Scene 4**

_Back on MJ's TV set, she and the cast and crew are assembled around a television watching the drama in space unfold. MJ looks horrified. _

NEWSWOMAN: …the shuttle app1ears to be venting vapors from its aft section. Although the exact design of the new shuttle has been kept secret, our experts believe that the oxygen supplies must be approaching critical levels…

MARY-JANE: Oh God. John, no…

_A comforting hand drops on her shoulder. Reflexively she reaches up and squeezes it, before noting by touch that the hand belongs to-_

MARY-JANE: Harry?

HARRY: Hey MJ. I was coming down to say hi when all this started.

_We get a good look at Harry Osborn, and he's a different figure from the pathetic slumped shadow of a man left sobbing in the alleyway. This Harry stands tall, seems composed and collected, and generally more sure of himself than the old Harry. The other main difference is the eyes; still as big as before, but with a new steel to their stare, and very occasionally, if one looks hard enough, a hint that all is not well in the mind that lurks behind them._

MARY-JANE: Isn't it awful? My God…

HARRY: John will make it home, MJ. He's the best pilot we have. That's why he's up there.

MARY-JANE: Yeah…

HARRY: Guilt?

MARY-JANE: (_angrily_) Of _course _guilt. You don't jilt someone at the altar and ever _not _feel guilt every day for the rest of your life, Harry.

HARRY: Why'd you do it?

MARY-JANE: _What?_

HARRY: It's a fair question isn't it?

MARY-JANE: You're asking this _now?_

HARRY: You wouldn't answer it before when I asked, so why _not_ now? Might help you feel better.

_Mary-Jane is speechless._

MARY-JANE: You think I'm worried about _me _right now?

HARRY: I'm sorry, MJ. You're right. Must be…I don't know, I'm just so worried about John too (_an obvious lie_) it's hard to know what to say…

MARY-JANE: (_not entirely sincerely_) Well, it's okay Harry.

HARRY: Your reasons are your own.

MARY-JANE: Thank you.

_Beat._

HARRY: Where's Pete?

_Mary-Jane flinches and we see Harry's mouth curl in disgust, unseen by her. He composes his expression by the time she returns her attention to him._

MARY-JANE: He just…I don't know…I haven't seen him in a couple of days. Why do you want to know anyway? I thought you two were still sore at each other.

HARRY: A little.

MARY-JANE: I wish you'd fix it.

HARRY: I do too, MJ. Who knows...maybe you can help us...

_His fingers curl slightly around the skin of her shoulder. We see that Norman Osborn glint in his eye as he smiles._

**Act 2, Scene 5**

_Houston's control room. Pandemonium reigns. _

CONTROLLER: Shield stresses at 110! Breach in about one minute if we don't shut it down!

CONTROLLER 2: We can't! He disabled our link!

CONTROLLER 3: (_on the telephone_)Uh…sir?

CONTROLLER: President?

CONTROLLER 3: Not exactly sir…but I think you'd better talk to him…

CONTROLLER: Gimme that. Hello, who is this?

**Act 2, Scene 6**

_J. Jonah Jameson's half-ruined office. Tarpaulin sheets have been hastily affixed over the gaping hole in the wall. The wind whips at them, but Jameson pays it no heed. He sits in front of a computer panel, telephone in hand._

JAMESON: J. Jonah Jameson here!

CONTROLLER (V/O): John's father? The newspaper guy?

JAMESON: The newspaper guy with a backup control system for your fancy bird up there, yes! Now shut up and listen! My son is overriding your commands but he can't override mine, so take your systems offline and let me and my team guide the shuttle back home!

CONTROLLER: _You_ have…_our_ systems…_your_ team...what the hell are you talking about!

JAMESON: Son, I don't have time for semaphore! Your computer systems were built by an organization run by a friend of mine. I have his personal workstation here, complete with hardwired backdoor that the _Praetor _can't override. If you don't want to watch your shuttle explode in about twenty seconds then _TAKE THE GOD-DAMNED SYSTEMS OFFLINE!_

_The controller slams the phone down. A military type appears at his shoulder._

CONTROLLER: General?

GENERAL: Was that Jonah?

CONTROLLER: Sir…yes, sir.

GENERAL: Do as he says. Now.

_One of Jonah's hastily-assembled 'team' (of three people) exclaims in triumph at his station._

TEAM GUY: Sir, NASA's systems are offline.

JAMESON: Assume control!

TEAM GUY: Done, sir. We have control.

JAMESON: Bring that throttle down! And start calculating a re-entry trajectory, anything you can get! And let me speak to him, now!

TEAM GUY: Yes, sir.

**Act 2, Scene 7**

_Space. John Jameson is holding MJ's picture over the stars. He moves it slightly and we see that it was obscuring the blue marble of Earth, coming up fast. Another huge thump comes from behind him, as Stevens' corpse tries once again to break down the door. _

COMPUTER: Shield stresses at 96. Breach averted.

JOHN: (_horrified_)What…?

_He throws switches but to no avail. And then from above a familiar voice echoes through the speakers._

JAMESON (V/O): Son?

JOHN: _Dad?_

JAMESON: You're alive. I knew you were alive.

JOHN: Dad…Dad, are you doing this?

JAMESON: Me? I'm just a newspaper guy. How could I be doing this?

JOHN: Dad, please, you have to stop. I can't bring this shuttle back to Earth.

JAMESON: Wrong, son. See I've grown kinda fond of you over your whole life. So you're coming home.

JOHN: Dad, dammit _listen _to me! There's _something up here with me_, do you understand! Something _killed _Stevens on that asteroid, but it wasn't done with his body, and now it's loose on this shuttle! Who knows what it could do on Earth?

_There's a long silence. John looks hopeful, as if he might have gotten through to his old man at long last._

JAMESON: You mean _my son_ is going to bring back…an alien life-form? _My son_ is going to be responsible for the single biggest story in human history?

JOHN: (_slumping in his seat_)Oh God.

JAMESON: Strap in tight, John. Might be a bumpy landing but you'll get there, I promise. Trust your old man!

_The transmission light goes out. _

JOHN: He's writing the headlines already.

**Act 2, Scene 8**

_Jameson's control centre. He sits perched on his desk, hovering over his team, practically frothing at the mouth with nervous excitement._

JAMESON: 'Heroic Astronaut Makes Historic First Contact With Being From Another World'. (_presses intercom_) Robbie, get in here! We got a special edition to print, and a sixty-page pullout on my son to publish!

ROBBIE (V/O): Coming, Jonah.

TEAM GUY: Um, didn't your son say the alien had murdered one of his crew?

JAMESON: Alright – 'Heroic First Contact With _Monster_ From Another World'. Either way it's gold!

TEAM GUY2: We might have a problem…

JAMESON: Problem?

_Robbie enters._

TEAM GUY2: The landing gear control systems are gone, sir. Fried, most likely. That makes a standard glide landing almost impossible.

JAMESON: Are you telling me they stuck a 50 billion dollar new propulsion system on that damn thing and forgot to add parachutes?

TEAM GUY2: No...but the damage the shuttle sustained taking off will most likely render at least one of the atmospheric parachutes inoperative. Maybe two.

JAMESON: So? We're not gonna to aim for the pavement, idiot! We'll go for the ocean!

TEAM GUY1: Well, yes…but even so, if the shuttle doesn't slow its velocity enough even a splashdown impact will be extremely dangerous. If two parachutes are gone it's extremely unlikely your son would survive.

JAMESON: What do we do?

TEAM GUY3: We can slow it down with the thrusters, but we don't know how effective that would be. The parachutes are vital. If they're gone…you'd need some other way of slowing down the shuttle.

JAMESON: Slowing down a space shuttle! And how in hell are we supposed to do that!

ROBBIE: Uh…

_The entire office gives them their undivided attention. He licks his lips nervously._

ROBBIE: There might be _someone_…

**Act 2, Scene 9**

_Spiderman is webbing to get a better view of the screen when a mobile rings. Surprised, he loses his perfectly-timed momentum and crashes flat into a wall._

SPIDERMAN: (_face still pressed to wall_) Ow.

_He scrambles to a ledge and twists his body to try to see where the mobile is. _

SPIDERMAN: Aw, would ya look at that-

_There's a perfectly rectangular bump on his arse. Clearly he left his mobile in his inner pocket this morning. With some suit-wriggling he manages to get it free._

SPIDERMAN: Hello?

JAMESON (V/O): Parker!

SPIDERMAN: _Jonah?_

JAMESON (V/O): Shut up, Parker! Can you still get ahold of that worthless web-spinning menace, or has he finally scuttled back into the hole he came from?

SPIDERMAN: Spiderman? He's…around.

JAMESON (V/O): Good! Tell him…tell him…(_clearly Jonah's having some trouble saying these words_)…tell him I need his help.

_Instinctively Spiderman reaches out with his free left hand to stop himself from falling off the ledge in shock._

SPIDERMAN: _What _did you say?

JAMESON: Shut up! My son's shuttle will be splashing down a few miles into Manhattan Harbor in less than twenty minutes. He doesn't have enough parachutes left to slow his descent and after what the webhead did for that train last year...well...seems he's the only one who might be able to somehow slow the shuttle enough. I'll have a helicopter on the roof of the Bugle building in five minutes ready to take him to the area. Get him Parker, I don't care how but get him.

SPIDERMAN: He'll be there.

**Act 2, Scene 10**

_It's started to rain in New York. The rain lashes the roof of the Bugle building as the helicopter touches down. A raincoated figure rushes over to the pilot. It's Jonah._

JAMESON: Keep her hot! Passenger should be here soon!

_Right on cue, Spiderman drops to his feet nimbly beside him._

SPIDERMAN: JJ, you're coming?

JAMESON: (_clambering aboard_)Damn right I'm coming, webhead! You think I'd sit on my hands while my son drops from the sky with that…with…the weight of the world on him?

SPIDERMAN: Alright…

JAMESON: (_gesturing to the empty seat beside him_)Well, you coming or not?

SPIDERMAN: You're a real charmer, Jameson.

_He gets on board and they take off at top speed for the harbor. _

SPIDERMAN: Talk to me. What can I expect?

JAMESON: It'll be dropping at something close to three hundred miles an hour. Helicopter will take us as high as it can and you…do whatever you can. We're clearing the area of ships, but we should be far enough out to sea for that not to be a problem.

SPIDERMAN: New York isn't exactly a landing pad for space shuttles, Jonah…

JAMESON: I had it redirected here. I knew you were the only thing that could slow it down enough at this short notice for my son to have a chance.

SPIDERMAN: Thing?

JAMESON: Person. Whatever.

SPIDERMAN: Jeez, Jonah…what did I ever do to annoy you so much? Except sell a ton of your newspapers? It must have killed you to call for my help.

JAMESON: I'll do anything for John.

SPIDERMAN: An honest-to-God virtue in you. Do I sound surprised? Because I am.

JAMESON: To be honest I…was surprised when you showed up. I thought because of who I was…you might not take the job.

SPIDERMAN: It's not a _job_, Jonah. I'd do this even if it was your ass on that shuttle and not your son's. That's what being a hero is; it's not a job, it's a life.

JAMESON: What do I look like, a demographic? Save your sermons for the kiddies. I've seen too much in this life, lost too much. But I…I can't lose John. He's everything I never was.

SPIDERMAN: He's the hero.

JAMESON: Yeah. And even if that's not enough for the Mary-Jane Watsons of this world, when he comes back…I'll make him the most famous man on the planet.

PILOT: We're coming up on the co-ordinates.

_Spiderman slides open the helicopter door and leans out. Far below, the rain-lashed sea churns. He leans back in to Jameson._

SPIDERMAN: You ever think to ask John if he _wants _to be famous, JJ?

_Jameson looks surprised at the question. Not waiting for an answer, Spiderman scrambles out for a better look at his surroundings. He ducks back into the helicopter._

SPIDERMAN: We might have a problem.

JAMESON: What!

SPIDERMAN: What exactly am I gonna web to slow this thing down? The ocean?

PILOT: I've got something on radar…

JAMESON: Are you telling me you can't save my son?

SPIDERMAN: Shut up, Jonah! (_to pilot_)Take me as high as you can. I need to get on that shuttle.

_The pilot complies and the helicopter ascends into the rainstorm. The series of blips on the monitor come faster and faster until-_

JAMESON: There!

SPIDERMAN: I see it. (_to pilot_) Can you get me within five hundred feet?

_The shuttle, lights blinking, is descending rapidly, having achieved re-entry to achieve precisely this trajectory. Spiderman opens the helicopter doors again (the blast of freezing air takes Jonah's breath away) and clambers outside._

JAMESON: (_shouting over the terrific noise of the wind_)Spiderman!

SPIDERMAN: What now?

JAMESON: Thank you!

SPIDERMAN: Thank me in the headlines, Jonah!

_Spiderman closes the outer door…and gathers himself. The shuttle is shooting past at a speed the helicopter can't hope to match. He's only going to get one shot at this, and he knows it. _

_We cut to Jameson, watching the proceedings with paternal worry written all over his face. _

_Spider-time kicks in, and Spiderman leaps, measuring his jump to the microsecond, kicking high and free of the helicopter, rising more than fifty extra feet into the air. His right arm extends and a webline snakes from it – we follow the webline as it shoots toward empty air…_

…_empty air occupied by a space shuttle. Weblines don't go at three hundred miles an hour, after all, so a little adjustment was required. Spiderman is yanked at the end of the enormous line through the skies. He begins to climb the line hand-over-hand at superhuman speed, resisting the tremendous buffeting of the wind and rain. The New York skyline is approaching on the horizon. _

**Act 2, Scene 11**

_Mary-Jane's set. Everyone is still watching the TV feeds. We focus on Mary-Jane and Harry beside her. _

NEWSWOMAN: …and, yes! We can now bring you live feed of the shuttle coming in over…_New_ _York_?

_The feed switches to an image of the shuttle coming in, and beneath it…_

NEWSWOMAN: …reports…of _Spiderman _trying to get onboard the shuttle?

MARY-JANE: (_whispers in horror_) Pete…

_She catches herself saying his name, guilty at her slip, and glances around to make sure no-one's paying attention. It's only now that she notices…_

MARY-JANE: Harry? Harry…?

_But Harry's gone…_

**Act 2, Scene 12**

_Spiderman lays his first hand on the shuttle and manages to climb onto it. Using every ounce of his superhuman strength to avoid being ripped off, he crawls to the rear end of the craft._

SPIDERMAN: Parachutes…

_He begins webbing with both hands, creating an enormous amount of webbing in just a few seconds. When finished, he affixes the web-shape to the shuttle's exterior and, gathering it up in his arms, lets it go. The wind immediately whips it off, throwing it far behind the craft and causing the shape to fill with air. It flowers open…into a parachute made from webbing specially thickened so that its usual porous makeup has been solidified._

_The shuttle jerks backward slightly, but it's not enough. Spiderman creates another parachute, and a third, before his spider-sense kicks in to warn him of danger. He looks around to check the source, and finds it's New York itself – they've run out of time. The shuttle is heading right for the city, and while it might have slowed significantly, the problem now arises of how and where to land it safely._

_Inside the cockpit, John Jameson is screaming into the communications port._

JOHN: Give me control back, now!

TEAM GUY 1 (V/O): You have control.

_He immediately sets to work, grabbing the steering column and yanking it hard to the left, steering the shuttle high into a New York avenue and avoiding collisions. We see terrified New Yorkers get out of their cars as the shuttle shoots past overhead._

_Inside the cockpit, the airspeed monitor continues to tumble toward 100mph. Spiderman braces himself on the back of the shuttle and webs the buildings they go between just as he did with the train, decreasing their airspeed yet further. The shuttle is only thirty feet or so now above the New York streets. Ahead of its landing path, people are sprinting from their cars, passengers from their buses etc._

_A woman leaves a department store and takes in the situation. She screams._

WOMAN: My son! My son!

_We cut ahead to a boy of about seven sitting in the back of a large people carrier. He's watching the shuttle come toward him with slack-jawed paralysis. _

_Spiderman leaps from the back of the shuttle and webs toward the car. He lands on the hood, the crashing shuttle filling the space behind him with each passing moment, sending empty cars and buses flying. _

_Grabbing the roof of the vehicle Spiderman heaves once and the whole roof comes off in his hands. He tosses it aside and gathers the boy in his arms before webbing off. An instant later the people carrier is utterly crushed by the shuttle. Spiderman deposits the boy to safety and springs off again. Three people about to be crushed are webbed and yanked to safety. _

_The shuttle grinds to a halt. It has wrought a trail of vehicular destruction almost one hundred feet long but, thanks to Spiderman and John Jamesons' piloting skills, no fatalities._

_Spiderman clambers onto the shuttle, just as the side escape door pops open and the inflatable escape chute inflates. A silhouette appears in the doorway. Some people in the rapidly growing crowd cheer, but these cheers turn to screams of horror when the figure falls forward. Spiderman catches it and brings it gently to the ground. It's Stevens, eyes wide and staring. He looks dead – again._

_Another figure appears in the doorway, and this time it IS John Jameson. He slides down the escape chute. _

JOHN: Don't touch him! Don't touch him! Don't _anyone_ touch him!

_Spiderman lets Stevens loll limply to the ground. _

SPIDERMAN: Are you OK?

JOHN: I'm – _look out!_

_An explosion goes off close behind Spiderman, sending him flying. Maniacal laughter cuts through the New York night. The Goblin comes soaring from above on his glider. _

GOBLIN: Time to bring you down to Earth!

SPIDERMAN (THOUGHTS): Not now, Harry…

_Spiderman leaps for the glider and tags it with one hand. The Goblin looks down._

GOBLIN: No passengers!

_He kicks out at Spiderman. _

SPIDERMAN: Harry, stop this! You don't have to do this!

GOBLIN: (_falteringly_)Peter…? Peter…?

_The Goblin staggers, and the glider goes off course and crashes through an office window, throwing both men off. The Goblin gets to his feet at the same time as Spiderman._

GOBLIN: Help me, Peter. I can't control it…you were right.

_Spiderman approaches him._

SPIDERMAN: Fight it, Harry.

_We see the Goblin's hand behind his back, activating another pumpkin device. _

GOBLIN: I…help me, Pete…I don't want to hurt you…

_He brings his hand out from behind his back and throws the device._

GOBLIN: …but it's _so _much fun!

_It goes off, sending lethal razorblades through the air…and nothing else. Spiderman is gone. The Goblin reacts, and from behind him comes a kick that sends him sprawling._

SPIDERMAN: Y'know Gobby, you might not want to bluff someone with a sixth sense. Just a tip, genius.

_He launches himself at the Goblin, but his attack is anticipated and he finds himself held in a choke-hold, the Goblin's arms around his neck._

GOBLIN: I was…always…better than you, Pete.

SPIDERMAN: (_struggling to breathe_)Tell that...to Mary-Jane.

_The Goblin screams with rage, but loses his concentration enough for Spiderman to wriggle free. He webs the Goblin's chest and yanks, sending his assailant rocketing out of the building. We follow the Goblin as he falls, his body rearranging itself until he's feet-first, his hand activating the recall signal on the glider. Seconds later it maneouvres itself into position beneath his feet and he's airborne again. _

_His head snaps around. Spiderman is just landing on a nearby building. The Goblin produces another bomb. We see that they're directly above the shuttle crash site. A thousand people or more have gathered below. We focus on the bomb as it's held high above their heads._

GOBLIN: I drop this...how many will die? Fifty? A hundred? More?

SPIDERMAN: Just one. And I'm looking at him.

GOBLIN: (_laughing_)Now who's bluffing?

SPIDERMAN: You are.

GOBLIN: You'd better be sure.

_He drops the bomb. Spiderman reacts, but then pulls back, remembering the earlier trick. We see his spider-sense freeze the bomb in mid-fall and analyse it, until we penetrate its casing and see that it's dull and lifeless inside. A dud. _

GOBLIN: Come and get me, Spiderman!

_He rockets off. Spiderman tenses his body and web-springs after him. He manages to intercept the Goblin's path and knocks him to the ground, sending him tumbling..._

_...as the bomb hits the ground..._

_...standing over the prostrate body of the Goblin, Spiderman brings his fist back..._

_...and the world freezes. His spider-sense goes back to the bomb as, with a sound like an engine kicking into life, its internal systems activate._

GOBLIN: Timer switch, bug. Wrong guess.

SPIDERMAN: NO!

_He abandons the Goblin and makes the biggest leap of his life, but it's too far out of reach, and he'll never reach that glowing orb as the light within it begins to pulsate more and more furiously, building to detonation-_

_-and a hand curls around it. That hand belongs to Colonel John Jameson, in a flat-out sprint._

JOHN: DOWN!

_People scatter left and right as he hurls the bomb high into the New York night. At the height of its parabolic arc it explodes, its shockwave knocking to the ground the running citizens for a hundred metre radius. John Jameson, closest to the epicentre, is worst hit; he is picked up and thrown backward, slamming into the side of the downed shuttle. Our world blurs as we see it through John Jameson's eyes; the fuzzy outline of the shuttle...and on its rear starboard side, a hole, a tear in the shuttle itself._

_A blue and red face appears above us._

SPIDERMAN: Colonel! Colonel, are you alright?

_A new voice makes itself heard._

JAMESON: All right! My son saved these people, no thanks to you! You allowed that lunatic to drop a bomb on these people!

_Jameson has just emerged from the lead vehicle in a convoy of emergency services, arriving wholescale on the scene. Police cars and ambulances screech up. Two paramedics attend to John Jameson, while his father storms up to Spiderman, furious beyond words._

JAMESON: You'll pay for this, wall-crawler! But for my son there would have been a massacre here tonight!

SPIDERMAN: _What?_

_In a flash he has Jameson by the scruff of his suit, picking him up bodily off the ground. Their faces are mere inches apart._

SPIDERMAN: But for _me _your son would be a smear in the harbour, or have you forgotten that already, JJ, you-

_Police officers fan out. _

POLICE OFFICER 1: Put him down slowly, and place your hands above your head!

_Jameson smirks in Spiderman's face. Spiderman looks ready to throttle him, but any action either would have taken is interrupted when John Jameson fights to sit upright on his stretcher._

JOHN: _Seal the shuttle! Jesus Christ, seal it! It's in there! Don't you understand, it's in there! _

_One of the paramedics manages to administer a sedative to him. He slumps unconscious. _

SPIDERMAN: What's in there, JJ?

JAMESON: Just one more dead astronaut.

POLICE OFFICER 1: Put him down, or we will open fire!

SPIDERMAN: (_to the cop_)You know you people are _really _beginning to annoy me.

JAMESON: (_desperately_)No, don't go in there!

_Too late - a team of paramedics has entered the shuttle through the hole ripped in its side. One of them pokes their head back outside._

PARAMEDIC: We got a live one! Needs a hospital _now! _

_Everyone - police officers, bystanders, paramedics - looks automatically to Spiderman. _

SPIDERMAN: I'll take her.

_He sets JJ down. Jonah immediately leaps clear and bounces up and down in rage._

JAMESON: Well? What are you waiting for! Arrest him!

_Spiderman webs to the paramedics and is handed the body of Chang, which he cradles in his arms. He casts a final look at the assembled police officers._

JAMESON: Shoot him!

_The police officer who had been screaming warnings fires a shot straight up in the air, deliberately nowhere near Spiderman._

POLICE OFFICER 1: Missed.

_With a leap Spiderman is gone. We stay with Jonah and the assembled crowd for a moment. Amazingly, he turns to address the public._

JAMESON: Ladies and gentlemen, you can be sure of reading the full story in tomorrow's _Bugle_.

_The crowd boo. Someone in the crowd throws something at him. _

**Act 2, Scene 13**

_Spiderman is swinging through New York, the unconscious body of Chang slung over him. As he swings past a huge all-glass skyscraper, far above we see the reflection of the Goblin on his glider, following him. Seconds later the first explosion rocks the night, following Spiderman's swing path. He is buffeted off course and has to hastily re-web back, hampered by the extra weight of Chang around his left arm, restricting him to only right-handed webs. _

_The Goblin is in fits of laughter as he produces bomb after bomb, tossing them with casual abandon at his nemesis. Spiderman is forced to use every trick he knows to avoid being blown to smithereens; evasive maneouvres that he might be confident of performing at peak are now made immeasurably tougher by his passenger restricting his movement. A stray bomb heads for a crowded intersection and Spiderman is forced to web it and fling it to safely, something he barely accomplishes._

GOBLIN: Who's bluffing _now_, bug!

_Out of control, Spiderman is forced to swing high and fast and crash-land on a rooftop, sliding along on his back cradling Chang's body to protect her from the impact. The Goblin rises to meet him, a picture of carefree insanity._

SPIDERMAN: Harry...let me get her to a hospital. She's an innocent in all this. You and me can finish up after.

GOBLIN (_hopping off his glider to land on the rooftop_): Innocent? _Innocent_? You know what, Parker? There's no such _thing_ as an innocent.

_The extent of his madness is becoming distressingly clear. _

SPIDERMAN: No-one? What about MJ and Aunt May, Harry?

_Chang begins to thrash in his arms. Her eyes roll whites. _

GOBLIN: I make no promises.

SPIDERMAN: _Listen_ to yourself. You're Harry Osborn! My best friend my whole life! You don't kill people!

_Chang goes limp in his arms, the life fleeing from her body at long last._

GOBLIN: I am Harry Osborn.

_And we see Norman Osborn standing beside Spiderman, beaming proudly, arms outstretched._

NORMAN: You _are _my son.

GOBLIN: Daddy...

_And beaming smiling benign Norman washes away, to be replaced by the psychotic Goblin persona in all its hideous glory. As he says the following words we actually see the flecks of spittle fly from his foaming lips-_

NORMAN: _KILL HIM!_

_And it's now that Chang's eyes snap open, her pupils pools of black. Her mouth spreads unnaturally wide and with a snarl she bites into Spiderman's shoulder. He cries out in pain and surprise. We see a blackness spreading from her into him through her mouth, a suffusion which darkens his suit momentarily. _

_Ironically, it is the Goblin who tears Chang off, ripping her mercilessly from Spiderman and tossing her body aside, where it slides to a boneless halt. Spiderman manages to stand unsteadily for a second longer before he sinks to his knees. As we did with Jameson, we see the world through his eyes, a crazily spinning vortex with only the green leering mask of the Goblin a central constant. _

GOBLIN: Well now...

_He lands a massive punch to Spiderman's solar plexus, driving Spiderman clean off the roof and nosediving into the streets below._

GOBLIN: ...wasn't _that _interesting.

_Spiderman manages to web and arrest his fall to some degree, but not fully, and the impact hurts him further. He tries to rise to one knee and hollers in agony, clutching at his ribs. We see his skin ripple and bulge as Chang's bite takes effect on him. His spider-suit, torn in many places now, shows flesh which pulses with an inner blackness. Spiderman howls in agony. _

_A pair of green boots hit the ground before him. The Goblin is enjoying himself. _

GOBLIN: Misery-

_A huge punch._

GOBLIN-misery-

_A huge kick._

GOBLIN-misery!

_And a second uppercut, which sends Peter fully forty feet up into the air before he crashes back down again. _

GOBLIN: You took away everything I ever had.

_He picks up Spiderman and holds him in place as he rains blows down upon him. _

GOBLIN: You took my father's approval without even trying. Was it because you didn't have a father, Pete? You had to have mine? And then...when he wasn't good enough for you...you killed him. Before I had a chance to showhim what _I_ could do.

_Spiderman feebly tries to deflect one of the Goblin's blows. Effortlessly the Goblin catches his fist in his own. He squeezes and we hear the popping and cracking of bone. A low moan of pain is all Spiderman can manage. It's a clear echo of the moment during the social event earlier when Peter had caught Harry's fist. Now the tables have turned._

GOBLIN: You won't survive this, Pete. Get over it.

_Calling his glider to him, the Goblin rises into the air with Spiderman his captive. New York's neon tapestry spreads out below them._

GOBLIN: So long, Spiderman!

_He holds Spiderman high above his head and hurls him downward. They're over six hundred feet above ground level - in his weakened state, a lethal fall for Spiderman. We follow his falling body as he tries to web with his broken hand and finds he can't move his fingers for the pain. With his other hand he webs successfully, but his aim is shot and the webline goes between two buildings and snags on nothing. With only a second to spare, a second webline manages to snag a nearby building and change the trajectory of Spiderman's plummet. The Goblin watches as Spiderman avoids the ground below, swinging far enough to splashdown in the Hudson river. _

GOBLIN: Hmm.

_He produces a new type of bomb, activates it with a twist and drops it into the river. We follow it as it submerges, activates, shoots out many small capsules...each of which then explodes powerfully. We go back to the Goblin as he watches the river bubble and surge from above._

GOBLIN: Never hurts to be sure...

_He laughs his trademark laugh and flies off. Below, the waters of the Hudson calm down, an unbroken mirror from which nothing emerges..._

**Act 2, Scene 14**

_We see a television screen showing us the Goblin flying off. The camera pans down to the Hudson. We pull back and see the screen belongs to Aunt May, watching with her hand over her mouth in horror. _

REPORTER (V/O): Nothing's emerging...ladies and gentlemen, I think he's gone. Spiderman is gone. Spiderman is dead.

AUNT MAY: (_beginning to sob_)Peter...Peter, _no_...

**Act 2, Scene 15**

_The giant screen is showing the same picture of the Hudson river. MJ stands silent watching for a moment, then breaks into a run, not stopping when the sidewalk ends._

MARY-JANE: TAXI!

_A cab stops, having no other choice since she's standing directly in its path. She runs to the passenger side._

DRIVER: Lady, are you crazy!

MARY-JANE: (_pointing to the image on the screen_) Take me there. _Now_.

**Act 2, Scene 16**

_The riverbank, about half a mile downriver. A figure washes up, crawling on its hands and knees. It's Spiderman. The remains of a spider-suit cling to him at various points. His mask is in tatters. Finally he loses all strength and collapses face-first. We see the skin on his back is mottling, fading into black before going back to normal and then back to black. It looks as if snakes are crawling beneath his skin. His head raises and we see the same is happening there - only his eyes are unaffected, but they scream of someone at the very end of their endurance for pain. _

_We hear a car screeching to a halt. Footsteps approach. _

SPIDERMAN: MJ...

_But it's not Mary-Jane. It's two men. They bend down and pick up Spiderman very gently, almost reverentially, before taking him to the back of a van. _

CARRIER: We got him. Go.

_The female driver nods in front and the van moves off. As we follow it, it passes a taxi going in the opposite direction. We linger long enough to see the passenger is a heartbroken Mary-Jane, little suspecting that the man she seeks has just been driven past her._

_In the back, Spiderman tries to sit up. _

SPIDERMAN: (_weakly_)Who are you...

_The world swims. We cut to Mary Jane, running in slow-mo from the taxi to the water's edge before collapsing to her knees, sobbing helplessly._

SPIDERMAN: Mary-Jane…

_He passes out again, and we see the world go black above him._

**Act 2, Scene 17**

_Flashing images pass by so quickly we can barely register them: the spider biting Peter Parker that fateful day in the laboratory - Peter discovering he can wall-crawl for the first time - Uncle Ben's death - Norman Osborn's unmasking as the Goblin - a tearful Harry at his father's funeral - MJ and John Jameson announcing their engagement - Doc Ock causing havoc - Pete dumping the Spiderman outfit - MJ's kidnapping - Harry unmasking Pete - Pete and MJ on the giant Spiderweb. _

_Peter's eyes snap open. He's suspended in absolute blackness._

PETER: Hello?

_There's a low growl from somewhere in the darkness; an animalistic noise. Peter struggles to turn but finds that when suspended in a vacuum it is practically impossible to move._

PETER: Harry...

_And in front of him comes the faintest hint of light glinting off eyes, and below those eyes a row of razor-sharp teeth...the thing speaks, and when it does it has a voice plucked straight from our nightmares, a rumbling throaty growl full of menace._

THING: Ha...rry...

**Act 2, Scene 18**

_Peter wakes - again. This time however he's in a normal - if excessively large - bed. The room at large is very grand and ornate, clearly belonging to a house of some size. To one side of the bed stands a large piece of medical equipment. There are three other people in the room; the two men who brought him to the van and the female driver. The woman moves to his side as he tries to sit up. _

WOMAN: Try not to move. You're healing fast but you're not done yet.

PETER: Who-

WOMAN: Sssh.

_She presses a button above the bed. It's an intercom system of some sort._

WOMAN: He's awake, sir.

MAN'S VOICE: Excellent. I'll be down straightaway.

WOMAN: Drink this.

PETER: What-

WOMAN: Hot soup. You had hypothermia when we brought you here. That seems to be clearing up too, but a little extra warmth can't hurt.

_The two men help him into a sitting position and adjust pillows at his back. The soup is placed before him on a bed tray. Peter lifts the spoon before his brain catches up._

WOMAN: If we'd wanted to hurt you, Peter, you'd be dead by now. Eat.

PETER: How do you know-

_But he flashes back to a day or so earlier, during his happy little first-day routine at the Sentinel, being greeted with 'Good morning Mr. Parker' from the two female receptionists. One of them is the girl who speaks to him now._

PETER: You work for the _Sentinel._

LYNAS: She works for me.

_He enters the room and motions for the two men to leave. They do so. _

LYNAS: They all do.

_He walks to the side of Peter's bed and checks the readouts on a bank of monitors there. The soup is removed._

LYNAS: You're doing well, Peter. Miraculously well, if you consider your condition when we brought you in not eight hours ago.

PETER: Eight hours? I've been out for eight hours-

_He moves and winces, but has a little more capacity to move than the last time he tried._

LYNAS: Want the highlights? Punctured lung. Healed. Broken leg. Unbroken. Massive internal bleeding. Stopped. Eight broken ribs...then six broken ribs...then three, and to look at you now...

PETER: Why are you doing all this?

LYNAS: Repaying a debt.

DRIVER: We all are, Peter.

PETER: I don't understand.

LYNAS: I've always been a very wealthy man, Peter. This is my family home. Eighty-six empty rooms for a child to get lost in. I hated it. I love to be surrounded by people. That's why I don't use a limousine. And that's why, about a year ago, I happened to be on a certain train.

_Super-quick flash of the train incident, except this time we see Lynas amongst the passengers as Peter's unconscious body is carried shoulder-high._

_We come back to Peter. There's a light of understanding in his eyes, and we sense that he's begun to relax a little about this for the first time._

PETER: You carried me.

DRIVER: We all did.

PETER: We?

LYNAS: There are thirty-four of us. When Octavius took you and we were left waiting for rescue, we had nothing to do but talk. And we realised we owed you for what you'd done. Being used to chairing commitees and the like, I was chiefly responsible for the gathering of telephone numbers, of email addresses. We kept in touch with each other.

_He pulls back his shirtsleeve and displays his wrist to Peter. There's a small tattoo of a spiderweb on his skin, discreet enough not to be noticeable._

LYNAS: We, uh, we call ourselves the Web. Not original I'll grant you.

PETER: (_to the woman_)Do you have a tattoo?

DRIVER: (_looking at Peter hungrily_)Yeah...but mine ain't on my wrist.

PETER: (_hurriedly sitting up_) So, er, thanks for everything, but I-

LYNAS: I wouldn't, Peter. There's only one wound on you that hasn't healed.

_He points. Peter looks down at his shoulder. Chang's teethmarks are still there, red and sore. He touches the area with a finger and winces._

PETER: What did she do to me...

LYNAS: We scanned you with everything we could get. (_shrugs_) Couldn't detect a damn thing. All I know is your skin, top to toe, was jet-black until about three hours ago. Then it just...faded away. If you wait here and we can get some better equipment-

_Peter shakes his head and throws back the sheets, swinging his legs free and hopping to the floor. He's wearing only briefs. The driver reacts. He flexes himself, testing his body, and seems fine._

PETER: I know where to go. And besides, I have other things to do.

LYNAS: The Goblin?

PETER: He's gotta be stopped. (_off Lynas and the woman's reaction_) What's happened?

LYNAS: He's been busy.

_He reaches for a control and presses a button. A wood panelling slides back to reveal a hidden television. A news channel shows a few images of destruction from New York; a ruined bank vault; a smoking armoured van, etc. _

PETER: Oh my God...

_His fists clench. It seems the penny has finally dropped to Peter that Harry is beyond help. We see determination enter his expression._

PETER: Thank you for everything, but I have to go, now.

LYNAS: Uh, you might not want to leave just yet (_he nods to Peter's less-than-dressed current state_)

PETER: Oh...do you have anything I could-

_We cut to a sliderobe being opened. More than a dozen Spider-suits lie behind it. Peter's eyebrows raise. He's pleased, but he's also a little dubious._

PETER: Nice.

LYNAS: We tried to think of everything.

_He excuses himself. Peter removes a suit from the sliderobe. He's standing in a changing area in front of a full-length mirror. He touches the spider-suit..._

PETER: Whoa…

_His fingers discolour red and blue. Startled, he drops the suit. The discolouration spreads up through his fingers to his arms and down to his legs. He staggers backward…_

_We cut to Lynas waiting outside. Peter emerges a few seconds later fully clad in a spider-suit. He looks, to put it mildly, perturbed, and is pulling at it and stroking it with his fingers. _

LYNAS: Good fit on you?

SPIDERMAN: Very...

_Lynas hands him a business card._

LYNAS: You need anything, you call me.

SPIDERMAN: I will. And thanks.

_He takes the card and lets his hand drop to his side. His 'suit' extends a tendril and absorbs the card into its skin. Peter's eyes widen. His hand slaps the skin where the card vanished, and a second later it re-emerges, ready to be taken. Peter leaves it where it is and it is re-absorbed. Lynas sees none of this._

LYNAS: Everything alright?

SPIDERMAN: Eh...sure.

_They're on one of the outside balconies of the house. _

LYNAS: See you at work, Peter, one way or the other.

_Spiderman springs from the balcony and begins webbing his way into the city. Lynas watches him go. _

**Act 2, Scene 19**

_Aunt May's house, later that morning. She sits opposite a police officer while he takes notes. Her eyes are red-rimmed and she looks haggard._

POLICE OFFICER: Anywhere else you can think of, ma'am?

AUNT MAY: (_shakily_)No...

POLICE OFFICER: Ma'am, it's been less than 24 hours. Being honest with ya, if it weren't for the fact that a news photographer might have been tempted to get a little too close to the crash last night, we probably wouldn't be pushing ahead with an investigation at this stage. I think there's a very good chance of your nephew turning up unharmed.

_We leave the living room through the front window and travel upward to the roof. Spiderman lands softly and, checking to make sure the other officer in the squad car saw and heard nothing of his arrival (he didn't) he web-swings into his old room on the first floor, landing on the carpet._

_We see Peter cocking his head to the side. The conversation carries up to him from downstairs, clear as a bell._

AUNT MAY (V/O): Can you try by the river please...close to where Spiderman fell?

POLICE OFFICER (V/O): If you don't mind me saying ma'am, what makes you ask that?

AUNT MAY (V/O): He...he took pictures of Spiderman. And with the bomb that awful Goblin let off...Peter might have been-

_She trails off. Peter looks upset. He looks about the room and lifts up a few objects._

PETER: Clothes, Auntie...where'd you put my clothes...

_He passes a mirror and starts in surprise. Apart from his Spiderman mask, he is now sporting casual Peter Parker attire from head to toe, including shoes! He looks himself up and down._

PETER: What the _hell_ is going on...

_He pats the mask and, right on cue, it simply fades from existence, draining down into his neck and being re-absorbed into his T-shirt and jeans._

POLICE OFFICER (V/O): We'll be in touch, ma'am. Take care.

_The front door slams. Peter walks to the window and waits until the squad car pulls away before he makes as if to go downstairs...then thinks better of it._

_We cut to the front door. It rings. We follow Aunt May as she goes to open it, and it's on her we stay as she registers who stands there. The change in her expression, from one of despondency and despair to one full of joy and happiness, is wonderful to watch. _

AUNT MAY: Peter...

_We see Peter, with an equally broad and genuine smile._

PETER: Hey, Auntie.

_And before he can say anything more, a wrinkled old hand shoots out and clips him around the ear._

PETER: Ow!

AUNT MAY: Shame on you, young man! Shame on you for scaring me like that! Get in here right now!

_Pouting a little, Peter trudges in, rubbing his head. As soon as he's within the house he's enveloped in a huge hug._

AUNT MAY: I thought I'd lost you.

PETER: I'm so sorry, Aunt May.

_They separate. _

PETER: I need you to do something for me.

AUNT MAY: Anything.

PETER: I need you to visit Aunt Nellie.

AUNT MAY: Nellie? She's in Atlanta! And she and I-

PETER: I know. But now would be a really good time to go make up with her. I want you out of New York. Just for a while, Aunt May.

AUNT MAY: Whatever for?

PETER: The Goblin...he attacked you three years ago, and now he's back...I'd feel a lot better if you were out of the city until he's stopped.

AUNT MAY: All right.

PETER: _Please_ Aunt May, this is really im...did you just say all right?

AUNT MAY: I'm sure you're just fussing over nothing, Peter. But if it puts your mind at ease, then I'll go. That worthless excuse of a husband of hers had just better have improved his habits since _last_ time.

PETER: I love you, Aunt May.

AUNT MAY: I love you too, Peter Parker. Now are you going to help me pack?

PETER: I'd love to, Auntie...but there's someone else I have to see.

**Act 2, Scene 20**

_Peter swings through the city. It's the afternoon, and raining again. His spider-sense kicks in, and we see a family being menaced by a group of thugs. He changes direction and heads toward it._

_We cut to the crime scene. One of the thugs has a gun trained on a teenage girl while the other two extort anything of value from her parents._

MOTHER: Please don't hurt her, please-

THUG 1: (_brandishing a watch he's just taken from her wrist_)Don't hurt her for this piece of crap? You'd better do better than this, lady...

FATHER: It's all we have!

_The third thug, holding the gun on the girl, is mightily surprised when a piece of webbing tags his gun and snaps it upward before he can blink. He's even more surprised when a half-second later another piece of webbing attaches itself to his head and does the same to him._

SPIDERMAN: Actually, they _do _have one more thing.

_He drops in the midst of the remaining two._

SPIDERMAN: Me.

_The other two thugs set upon him. He ducks their attacks easily and swings to punch one of the thugs-_

_-we hear, just on the edge of our perception, the same snarl Peter heard in his dream-_

_-and the thug is propelled backward fully thirty feet down the alley. He lands in a trench of rainwater, sending a huge spray up. The other thug, about to try and tackle Spiderman from behind, stands frozen to the spot. Even the terrorised family stand agape. Not least surprised is Spiderman himself, who stares down at his closed fist. _

_He holds up his arm. The red and blue of his suit have gone, to be replaced by a uniform black, save for the familiar spider emblem on his chest, now in white._

SPIDERMAN: I didn't mean to...

_The other thug snaps out of his stupor, screams with rage and picks up a nearby trashcan lad to smash over Spiderman's head. Viewing this from a point just in front of Spiderman's mask, we see him go from normal-time to Spider-time and to a point beyond it, until he's almost frozen completely. _

_Spiderman turns. He walks (with no great hurry) completely around the thug, who's still downswinging. _

_And then he sees the raindrops. _

_They too are slowed down almost to the point of not moving. He reaches out and touches one and it retains its shape as it's geography shifts. _

SPIDERMAN: (_wonderingly_)This...is officially...weird.

_He winces in sudden pain and touches his temples. Time moves normally again. The thug completes his downstroke - just a shame Spiderman is now behind him. He overbalances and topples over. With two quick bursts of webbing Spiderman has him affixed to the alley surface._

_The family, now huddled together, regard him with a mixture of gratitude and slight trepidation. The girl is the first to speak._

GIRL: Thank you, Spidey.

MOTHER: You hit him so hard.

SPIDERMAN: He was going to-

MOTHER: I didn't say it was a bad thing.

SPIDERMAN: Call an ambulance for him. And lay off the trips through the jungle, okay?

_Spiderman shakes his head and his black spider-suit shimmers back to red and blue. He webs a line and prepares to leave, but before he can-_

FATHER: Are you going after the Goblin?

SPIDERMAN: Yes.

GIRL: You're gonna kick his ass aren't you!

SPIDERMAN: I'm gonna kill him.

_The reply startles them a little. Spiderman leaps and is gone, leaving them shaken and alone in the alley._

FATHER: Let's go.

GIRL: What about the ambul-

MOTHER: You heard your father.

_They leave the alley. We fade out on the fallen body of the punched thug, crumpled in a sodden heap._

**Act 2, Scene 21**

_An enormous pile of booty - money, jewellry etc. We see it sits in the Goblin's secret lair in the Osborn mansion. The Goblin's mask sits upon its plinth. We travel through the lair until we come to the mansion itself, and eventually to a body slumped over a large leather sofa. It's Harry Osborn, sleeping._

_Someone (we can't see their face) kneels beside him, putting their lips close to his ear. _

VOICE: Wake up, Harry.

_Harry stirs. He turns around to see himself, an exact duplicate, kneeling beside him. There's a dancing, gleeful madness in the other Harry's eyes._

HARRY: What do you want?

HARRY TWO: You've done so well, Harry. I have something to show you.

_Harry rises. He's barefoot, and his suit looks crumpled and much slept-in. As he follows his double (who by contrast is immaculately tailored and coiffured), he stumbles over something on the floor. Catching his balance, he looks down...and stumbles backward, out of shock, clutching at the wood panelling behind him. _

HARRY: Ray?

_A crumpled body lies still upon the plush carpet. Harry's double looks over his shoulder and smiles._

HARRY TWO: You've done so well.

_Harry goes to the corpse and turns it over. Ray's cold, dead eyes stare up at him._

HARRY: Oh God...

HARRY TWO: Don't you remember?

_We go into a black-and-white flashback. Harry is storming into the Goblin's lair, clad in full Goblin regalia with the exception of his helmet. His head snaps around and we see Ray, the Osborn family's loyal manservant, entering the room. He takes in Harry's appearance and his eyes widen in shock and horror. Flashback Harry smiles a doom-laden smile and begins walking toward him purposefully._

_Back to reality. Harry looks as if he's about to vomit. _

HARRY TWO: Stand up. He's not going to get any less dead, Harry. Follow me.

_His face numb, Harry complies, staggering after his doppelganger like a zombie. He comes to a stop facing the mirror into the Goblin's lair. Only he has a reflection in the glass. His double does not._

HARRY TWO: Call to him. Call to Daddy.

HARRY: Daddy...(_begins to sob_) oh Daddy please, help me...

_He looks up. It's no longer his reflection in the mirror - as has happened before, it now belongs to Norman Osborn. Harry's doppelganger smiles the same smile we saw Harry smile in the flashback, and walk toward the mirror in the same way._

NORMAN: Son? Son, what are you-

HARRY TWO: This is your reward, Harry. Enjoy it.

NORMAN: Harry, no! Harry, _stop him-_

_It's too late. Harry's doppelganger reaches the mirror and steps _into _the reflection, so that he stands side-by-side with the image of his father. Norman backs away from the apparition. The real Harry sinks to his knees, tears running down his cheeks, watching this._

NORMAN: Who _are_ you...

HARRY TWO: Don't you know me? I'm the son you always wanted, Dad.

_And before the ghost of Norman Osborn can reply or move, this Harry pulls a curved knife (the same knife Harry brandished when he had Spiderman helpless in Spiderman 2) and stabs Norman quickly and efficiently through the heart._

HARRY TWO: Now how about a hug?

_Norman gasps once, and then simply fades._

HARRY: NOOOOO!

HARRY TWO: Get up. I said _get up_.

HARRY: You killed him.

HARRY TWO: Spiderman did that. Get over it. You don't need Norman anymore, Harry boy. You've got me. And look at what we've done. New York is in terror of us. Of _you_, Harry Osborn.

HARRY: I killed Peter...

HARRY TWO: Can't kill one without the other. And so what? You know what Harry, what bothers you isn't the things you do...it's how you're coming to like it.

_Harry says nothing. We can see in his eyes he's accepting the truth of this._

HARRY TWO: At first it was all for Daddy...but it's time to grow up. Spiderman was just the beginning. You have some other people to visit, don't you...

_Harry looks at the mirror, and it's his true reflection again, tattered suit and all. His back straightens, his eyes lose any warmth, and that cruel, cold smile resurfaces. He's the Goblin again, and for the first time he's the Goblin not to live up to some projected image of his father's desires, but because he truly wants to be. _

_Harry's very soul is being eaten away, piece by piece._

**Act 2, Scene 22**

_Mary-Jane's apartment. We get a good look at it for the first time and it's what we might expect from a young girl who suddenly finds herself with money, fame and a large apartment - practically empty. Only one corner of the apartment looks lived in, and it contains a bed and a wardrobe (clothes are strewn randomly from this). One of the wardrobe doors is open and we see that, as she might have done as a high school girl with her locker door, MJ has plastered the inside of the door with pictures of her and Peter together. There's a window by the bed. It's closed._

_Mary-Jane enters the apartment. She's led in by two police officers, one male and one female._

FEMALE OFFICER: Miss, we'll let you know as soon as we know anything. You really can't stay at an incident site. It's for your own good.

_Mary-Jane only nods. She looks ashen. _

MARY-JANE: You have the address?

MALE OFFICER: We'll call on May Parker's house as often as we can. I doubt she's gone far.

FEMALE OFFICER: Get some sleep, sweetheart. Have a nice day.

_They excuse themselves and close the door behind them. Mary-Jane stares around the vast expanse of her expensive home with undisguised loathing. She pads to her bed and sits down on it. _

_The wind ruffles her hair. She glances up and sees that the window by her bed is now open. Eyes wide, she rushes to the window and looks out. Behind her, we see a figure drop nimbly from the ceiling. It's black-clad, but as we watch that changes to blue and red._

SPIDERMAN: (_as his mask drains away to reveal Peter's face_)See anything you like?

_Mary-Jane whirls around. _

MARY-JANE: Peter!

_In seconds they're in one another's arms._

SPIDERMAN: (_between kisses_)I kinda broke the phone.

MARY-JANE: (_likewise between kisses_) Who cares…you're alive...oh thank God...you're alive. I thought you - I thought the Goblin had -

SPIDERMAN: He almost did.

_He stops Mary-Jane's kisses with a firm hand. _

SPIDERMAN: You have to go, MJ.

MARY-JANE: Go?

SPIDERMAN: I've sent Aunt May to her sisters in Atlanta. I want you out of New York until the Goblin's stopped.

MARY-JANE: Not a chance, tiger!

SPIDERMAN: Good, then you can get pack...what?

MARY-JANE: Leave you to that maniac? Are you crazy? He's already nearly killed you once! I'm not running, Pete. I've faced these things before.

SPIDERMAN: And so far the score stands at Mary-Jane...zero, kidnappings by supervillains...two.

_Mary-Jane's eyes flash with anger._

MARY-JANE: How can you say that?

SPIDERMAN: Because it's true? MJ, I have to take the Goblin down. I'm going to have enough to deal with without-

MARY-JANE: Without me? Is that what you're saying?

SPIDERMAN: You think it was easy for me to watch you put in danger?

MARY-JANE: You think it was easy for me to be _in _that danger? What do you think, I _like _being kidnapped by maniacs?

SPIDERMAN: I don't believe this. I'm asking you to get out of danger because I love you, can't you understand that?

MARY-JANE: I'm not going to dangle off the nearest bridge wearing a DROP ME sign! You told me this was just someone wearing the Goblin's mask. What makes you so sure he's going to go after me?

SPIDERMAN: (_finally snapping_)Because it's Harry.

_Mary-Jane reacts. We see her eyes widen with shock, and then as her brain catches up, a frown of scepticism surfaces._

MARY-JANE: (_bemused_) Harry...Harry Osborn? _Harry_ _Osborn_ is the Green Goblin?

SPIDERMAN: I didn't want to tell you.

MARY-JANE: You're actually serious...

SPIDERMAN: (_waving his arms in frustration and impatience_)What, you think I'm making this up?

MARY-JANE: No...but come on...he's just Harry. Where would he get-

SPIDERMAN: His father.

_That one registers on her. _

MARY-JANE: He was the one who dropped me?

PETER: I can never see that again, Mary-Jane. I can't.

MARY-JANE: I know. But Harry's my friend...how could I not know something like that about one of my friends?

_By way of silent reply, Peter simply quirks his eyebrow and we pan down from his everyman face and neck to the superhero suit from the neck down. _

_Mary-Jane has the decency to be slightly embarrassed, but that embarrassment quickly gives way to shock._

MARY-JANE: Harry...oh my God. We have to help him, Pete.

SPIDERMAN: I have to stop him. And I can't do that with you here and at risk, MJ.

MARY-JANE: I can't just...you can't think he would do what his father did-

SPIDERMAN: (_hotly, and with more than a trace of simmering resentment_)He almost beat me to death, or have you forgotten that?

MARY-JANE: You _are_ going to help him, aren't you?

SPIDERMAN: Sure.

MARY-JANE: You're lying. I don't believe this, you're _lying_...

SPIDERMAN: Hold on a minute here-

MARY-JANE: (_shouting_) What are you going to do, Pete, when you catch him? Turn him in? Hand him over? Rough him up? Well? What are you going to do!

SPIDERMAN: Stop him.

MARY-JANE: Kill him?

_Spiderman looks away, unable to say it to her. There are tears of disbelief in Mary-Jane's eyes. She runs her hands through her hair and paces up and down, unable to process it all. After a few seconds the silence is too much for Spiderman._

SPIDERMAN: Harry's gone.

_His spider-sense sounds and, just like at the Bugle, an explosive device shatters the wall. Spiderman has the jump on it this time though and webs MJ a split-second ahead of the blast, pulling her to him and to safety, shielding her from the impact of the explosion. The Goblin's glider appears. _

GOBLIN: Gone? But I'm right here!

_Spiderman backs away with MJ behind him. His mask flows up to cover his head, and his suit drains of blue and red to go black once more. MJ notices this, but has more pressing concerns at the moment. _

SPIDERMAN: Stay behind me.

MARY-JANE: I have to know if it's true!

GOBLIN: Does this help?

_Still hovering about twenty feet in front of them through the hole blown in the side of the building, he reaches up to his helmet and, pressing a release, lifts it away. We see Mary-Jane's reaction as she beholds the revealed face of Harry Osborn._

HARRY: Hey, MJ. Wanna go out for a drink sometime?

_For a moment we think MJ might burst into tears, but no - seeing Harry standing there smiling, something in her is pushed too far. She erupts in rage and actually picks up an ornament and flings it at the Goblin. He throws up an arm and bats it away easily._

MARY-JANE: How _could _you! You son of a bitch!

HARRY: Raincheck, huh? Never mind.

SPIDERMAN: Leave her out of this, Harry.

HARRY: She got herself involved, Pete, or have you forgotten that?

MARY-JANE: He knows? He knows about you?

HARRY: I've known for a long time, MJ - Pete, don't think I don't see that about-to-spring-into-heroic-action stance - but you and Pete together...that _was_ a recent addition. Might say it made the man I am today.

SPIDERMAN: Fascinating as all this is Harry...what's say you and I finish this.

HARRY: (_hatred in every syllable_)Oh you _got_ it, webhead.

SPIDERMAN: Not here and not now. MJ isn't a part of this. You said it yourself.

HARRY: I said no promises.

SPIDERMAN: You said you were a man. Act like one.

_There's a long and dangerous pause. Harry's hand reaches behind his back, as if to grope for one of his pumpkin devices. But the hand stops, hovers...and relaxes._

HARRY: Fine.

SPIDERMAN: Name a time and place and I'll be there.

HARRY: Oh you'll know when the time comes. Believe me, you'll know.

_He reaffixes his helmet, dips the glider and it performs a one-eighty. Now the Goblin again, he looks back over his shoulder._

HARRY: Be seeing you, Pete. Oh...and I like the new look.

_He flies off, gone in an instant. Spiderman relaxes, obviously relieved at not having to face him with MJ caught in the midst. _

SPIDERMAN: Are you ready to go?

_He puts a hand on MJ's shoulder as if to comfort her and she pulls away from his touch._

MARY-JANE: I preferred the old one.

**Act 2, Scene 23**

_Spiderman and MJ land softly on the outskirts of a train station. It's getting dark. She has a large satchel bag with her and is wrapped in her disguise coat. _

MARY-JANE: You're sure about this.

SPIDERMAN: Trust me. May and Nellie will love having someone else in the house to break up all those silences. You have the address?

MARY-JANE: Yes. How will I know when-

SPIDERMAN: There are about ten million phones in this city. I'll call you.

MARY-JANE: Don't I get a kiss, at least?

_Spiderman takes a step backward. His appearance shimmers for a moment before his spider-suit ripples, erasing the black all-in-one in favour of Peter Parker civilian clothes._

MARY-JANE: What's happened to you, Peter...

PETER: I'm not sure...when you're safe I'm going to go find out. But...I think it's another gift. Like the spider-bite in the laboratory.

MARY-JANE: So that was a gift?

PETER: What else would it be?

_Mary-Jane simply nods. We sense that she's deeply, deeply worried about Peter, but unable to begin thinking about how to vocalise her concerns. Peter senses her mood and moves to kiss her, but it's not the passionate kisses of old; Mary-Jane holds back slightly, and it's more of a chaste affair._

PETER: Don't worry, MJ. I'm going to win.

MARY-JANE: Yeah...well, you know what? I believe you. And that worries me.

_She kisses him on the cheek and walks away. Peter stares after her, confused and conflicted as to her reaction, and for a moment looks as if he will call after her, but seems to think better of it. He steps back into the shadows...we see a brief shimmer...and the black-clad Spiderman swings off into New York._

**Act 2, Scene 24**

_Jameson's office, the Bugle. Night. Builders are packing up their stuff, putting the final touches to the repairs to his wall from the Goblin's bomb. One of them nudges another one. The second builder swallows and approaches Jameson's desk. Jonah is in the middle of an extremely heated phonecall._

_We only hear Jonah say the following lines, as the whole time we're staying with the builder as he very, very nervously approaches JJ's desk. We see him get increasingly nervous._

JAMESON: No, _you_ listen to me. I want round-the-clock updates on my son's condition. I don't care if he's in some god-damned secret military hospital, on the aft deck of the _Titanic_, or halfway to the centre of Mars - I want to know how my son is doing every ten minutes on the dot, or I open up a certain file and review if certain pictures would be in the public's interest to publish. Is that clear enough for ya, _Mister_ President?

_At those last two words, the builder performs a swift U-turn and makes a break for it. He has his hand on the doorhandle when-_

JAMESON: You there!

_The builder turns._

BUILDER: Y-yes?

JAMESON: Do I employ you to bring me coffee?

BUILDER: Um...no?

JAMESON: Well find me somebody I _do _employ to bring me some, you idiot! And get the hell out of my office!

_The builder exits as if all the fires of Hades are after him. He passes Eddie Brock, who puts a hand on his chest to stop him. He has a Starbucks-type coffee container in his hand._

EDDIE: Is he in a good mood?

_The builder simply laughs pityingly in Eddie's face and scampers onward._

EDDIE: I can do this.

_He pushes onward into Jameson's office and sits down in the chair opposite Jonah. Jonah looks him up and down, totally astonished that ANYONE would dare have the cheek to exist at the present moment._

JAMESON: Where's my coffee?

EDDIE: Uh...right here, sir.

_He hands him the coffee._

JAMESON: Good work, son. You'll go far. Now get the hell out.

EDDIE: Uh sir...Eddie Brock. You requested a meeting with me?

JAMESON: (_taking a swig of the coffee and pulling a face_) Ugh! You're fired!

EDDIE: I can get you a better one...

JAMESON: Not for the coffee, you idiot! Your column isn't working out. Bad reviews, and celebrities seem to think you're a...

_He flicks through papers on his desk until he plucks the requisite page. He holds it up and reads from it._

JAMESON: '...desperate, cloying, bumbling fool who'd need an injection of charm to bring him up to a sleazeball'. Tough luck. Now scoot - I promised a guy your desk and he needs it by tomorrow morning.

_Eddie has gone deathly pale._

EDDIE: Wait a minute...you're telling me I'm _fired_?

JAMESON: Despite that keen journalistic sense, yes.

EDDIE: But I have tomorrow's column ready! I can...I can change it, improve it-

JAMESON: (_getting up and shepherding Eddie to the door_)Type's set already for tomorrow. It'll be your last, so make it a good one.

EDDIE: I need another chance, please!

JAMESON: Son, you need a miracle.

_The door slams. Eddie walks through the crowded chaotic office like a dead man walking, in a daze. One of the secretaries, Betty, calls to him._

BETTY: Someone to see you, Eddie.

EDDIE: Tell him to beat it. I'm gone.

_He reaches his desk. Someone's sitting in his chair, facing toward the window and the world outside. Eddie's frown of annoyance at this intrustion evaporates somewhat when the chair spins around to reveal Harry Osborn, smiling broadly._

HARRY: Eddie Brock, have I got a story for you...

**Act 2, Scene 25**

_NYU campus in the small hours of the morning. A darkened laboratory inside. A figure is bent over a large machine while it whirrs and hums. A shaft of light coming in from the reflective surfaces reveals it to be Dr. Connors, Peter's professor at NYU, pulling some serious overtime. He murmurs to himself as he works._

_A noise from behind him. His hand drops to below the table, and we drop down too to see a handgun has been affixed there._

SPIDERMAN: Dr. Connors?

CONNORS: Who's there?

_A black-clad finger flicks a lightswitch, and Spiderman is revealed. Connors takes in his appearance and his costume change in a brief pause._

CONNORS: The police can be here in four minutes.

SPIDERMAN: I can be gone in four seconds, Doc. Don't bother.

CONNORS: What do you want?

SPIDERMAN: You seem very jumpy, Doc. Had any visits from any other costumed freaks recently?

CONNORS: That's none of your concern.

SPIDERMAN: Wrong. I need to know what he came for and what he got. Relax, I'm just asking for your help here.

_But his body language is wrong. It's threatening. Spiderman shouldn't scare us, but now...he does. He moves like a predator as he takes a few steps toward us, waiting for Connors to make his move._

CONNORS: Ask somewhere else. I have my own work to do - I don't have time for this. Get out of here or I'll call the police, four seconds or not.

_He turns his back and resumes his work at the machine. There's silence from behind him. After a few seconds he turns back. Spiderman is gone. He breathes a sigh of relief and turns back to the machine - and looks directly into Spiderman's upside-down face, suspended from the ceiling directly in front of him._

SPIDERMAN: You're not the only one pressed for time.

CONNORS: (_angrily_) Get out!

_He backs away toward the phone on the wall. Spiderman releases the webline holding him from the ceiling, flips himself upright and sends one precise web-bullet to the phone, smashing it to pieces. Connors' eyes widen in fear and he turns to run. In an instant Spiderman is upon him, pushing him to the nearest table. A glass beaker tumbles off and smashes. Connors is pinned._

CONNORS: Just...asking, huh?

SPIDERMAN: Want me to insist?

_We pan down a little to see Connors remaining hand. It clenches, and as we watch, turns a shade of green. The skin runs together into what look like the beginnings of scales. Connors trembles, and closes his eyes, forcing himself to breathe. The hand reverts back to normal. Spiderman sees none of this transformation. Looking terrified at the prospect of losing control - and perhaps seeing the transformation continue beyond his hand - Connors' shoulders slump and he relents._

CONNORS: What is it you want me to do…

**Act 2, Scene 26**

_Jameson's office. He's on the phone again. Robbie is there too._

JAMESON: ...stable? No change? Good. I want him back when you're finished your damn tests, do you understand? Goo-

_His door bursts open and in comes Eddie Brock, man on a mission._

EDDIE: Hold the front page, Jonah. In fact, hold all the damn pages!

JAMESON: I'll call you back. I have a murder to commit. Shouldn't take long.

_He puts the phone down. _

EDDIE: You said I needed a miracle. Well, I got one. The story of the century, JJ!

JAMESON: Son, a space shuttle landed in downtown Manhattan, and you, Eddie Brock, think you can come into my office and tell me you've got something bigger?

_Eddie throws a file on JJ's desk. JJ opens it. We don't see what he sees, but we see his hands moving and his reaction - a mixture of delight, excitement and sheer fury. He grabs the phone._

JAMESON: Stop printing! We got a new edition to write!

_He slams the phone down and ignites a cigar._

JAMESON: Welcome back to the _Bugle_, son.

_Robbie, having also gotten a look at the contents of the file, takes the opportunity to slip out of the room quietly. He jogs to his desk, picks up his phone and dials. As he sits down we cut to his pants-leg and we see, in the few inches of flesh we can see between his sock and the bottom of his pants, something that looks like a tattoo..._

ROBBIE: Mr. Lynas? We have a problem...

**Act 2, Scene 27**

_Connors lab. Connors jingles a set of keys in his hand before opening up a locked cupboard. He extracts a vial of the Goblin's serum carefully, holding it as if were high explosive. Spiderman, meanwhile, is hooked up to an expensive-looking machine._

CONNORS: He came to me and demanded that I take this apart chemically. When I refused him, he...well, he made it clear that wasn't an option.

SPIDERMAN: You improved it.

CONNORS: Yes. He wanted the physical and mental effects enhanced. I warned him it could be done, but that it would come at a price.

SPIDERMAN: Price?

CONNORS: His sanity. The original serum had destablising mental effects, yes, but they could take time to build and manifest. This...(_he brandishes the vial_) this is a one-way ticket to permanent psychosis.

SPIDERMAN: You'd never guess to look at him.

_Connors walks to the machine Spiderman is connected to and works the controls. We see a virtual display of Spiderman's body on a screen. Connors whistles._

CONNORS: I have never seen anything like this...

SPIDERMAN: Let me guess. It's an extra-terrestrial symbiotic life-form, dependent on me to survive.

CONNORS: (_surprised_) You have a keen mind. Ever thought of enrolling?

SPIDERMAN: I'll bear it in mind.

CONNORS: Largely, you're correct...it's bonded to you on a microcellular level, and it seems to be influencing your musculature...

_Spiderman flexes his hand, clenching a fist and relaxing it. When he speaks it's with quiet satisfaction._

SPIDERMAN: I noticed.

CONNORS: ...this really is the most astonishing thing...the life-form requires tremendous amounts of energy to sustain. Probably why the astronauts were insufficient as a host body. But you...you're perfect. You can feed it. And it produces even _greater _amounts of energy in return.

SPIDERMAN: It creates more energy than it consumes?

CONNORS: Yes. Pity we can't hook it up to the National Grid. I'm running a nanocellular scan on it now to determine our retrieval options.

SPIDERMAN: Retrieval?

CONNORS: Well, yes...you _are _wanting to be separated from this, I assume?

_Spiderman stands up and begins taking off the probes. _

SPIDERMAN: Not part of the plan.

CONNORS: But...you can't seriously be thinking of _allowing _an alien life-form to bond with you! Look at this! (_he taps a section of the screen displaying Spiderman's body_) It's connected to your cerebral cortex! This thing is aware of what you do...don't you understand that? It may even be able to exert an influence over your actions!

SPIDERMAN: I doubt it, Doc. Besides, if I'm gonna beat the Goblin, I _need _this thing giving me a boost.

CONNORS: And after the Goblin?

SPIDERMAN: We'll talk then. Thanks for your help.

_Connors clearly doesn't believe Spiderman will come back. As he prepares to web off, the scientist grabs another serum from the locked cupboard._

CONNORS: Wait!

_He hands the serum to Spiderman._

SPIDERMAN: What's this?

CONNORS: You didn't think I'd take that serum apart chemically and erase the data afterward, did you? I've been working on this for two days.

SPIDERMAN: (_incredulously_)An antidote?

CONNORS: Maybe. There's only one living subject I could test it on to find out and I feared he might have been...reluctant. But you...if you can get close enough, one shot of this to his sytem and it might just flush out enough of the serum. But if it's not administered within the next twenty-four hours...it'll be too late.

SPIDERMAN: I don't think within twenty-four hours will be a problem.

_He leaps twenty feet up and out a small window near the ceiling. Connors watches him go. _

**Act 2, Scene 28**

_Dawn is breaking over Manhattan, and Spiderman watches the light spill over the buildings from his vantage point on one of the highest corners of the Empire State Building. He runs his fingers over the forearms of his suit. _

SPIDERMAN: Ready?

_With that, he springs free of the building, his body a perfect gymnastic arrow. Gravity takes its toll and he plummets, the ground rushing up to meet us at a stomach-lurching rate. With the ground a fraction of a second away, a webline is snaked and snags, and he's off, rocketing down the New York avenue in huge looping arcs. This is Spiderman revelling in his powers as we haven't seen him in a long time._

_A voice carries to him. It's a little girl, crying. _

LITTLE GIRL: My balloon! My balloon!

_Spiderman arrests himself in mid-swing and tracks the rising red balloon, which is already some distance above him. With one precision leap of over a hundred feet straight up, he clasps his hand around the string and web-zips to the side of a building, descending more slowly so as not to burst the balloon._

_When his feet touch the ground, the little girl is waiting for him. She's about four years old, and currently jumping madly up and down in excitement._

SPIDERMAN: Somebody lose a balloon?

LITTLE GIRL: Me me me me me me!

_Kneeling down, he hands it over. The girl hugs him. _

LITTLE GIRL: Thank you, Peter.

_Spiderman stands up quickly, unable to believe what he has just heard._

SPIDERMAN: What did you call me?

LITTLE GIRL: That's your name isn't it? Pe-ter Par-ker. Pe-ter Par-ker.

SPIDERMAN: Where did you hear that?

LITTLE GIRL: My Daddy was reading it to me this morning. And it was on TV when I left the house. I live just over there (_she turns to point_) and my Daddy-

_When she's turned back, Spiderman has gone. We stay on the little girl for a moment as she pouts, and then her face clears with the air of someone having a fantastically good idea. She lets go of her balloon. It begins to rise into the air._

LITTLE GIRL: (_hopefully_)My balloon...my balloon...

**Act 2, Scene 29**

_A newsstand. In fact, it's the same newsstand as in Act 1, Scene 1, with the same grumpy vendor. He has an enormous pile of Daily Bugles and he's selling them as fast as he can hand them out. _

VENDOR: Read all about it! The story of the century!

_One of the unsold bundles is webbed and yanked up to a nearby rooftop. Spiderman rips apart the packaging and holds up the top copy of the Bugle in horror. The headline is SPIDERMAN REVEALED! Underneath, the sub-headline screams WALL-CRAWLER REALLY BUGLE PHOTOGRAPHER PETER PARKER! _

_We pan down. Two photographs lie underneath the headlines. One is a classic Spiderman pose, ironically taken by Peter himself. The other is a shot of Peter in the spider-suit with his mask off. _

SPIDERMAN: (_with fury in his voice_)Harry...

_We go back to the front page, and the tagline in particular - EXCLUSIVE OF THE CENTURY - BY EDDIE BROCK._

SPIDERMAN: Brock...

_He crumples the paper with his fist, just as Harry did in Act 1, Scene 2. Moments later the pages scatter in the wind and Spiderman is gone._

**Act 2, Scene 30**

_The Bugle's newsroom. Naturally it's a scene of complete and utter chaos. A hastily erected new seating area houses twenty new telephonists, all with headsets. As we pan past the nearest she holds her hand to her ear._

TELEPHONIST: _Daily Bugle _Spiderman-Peter Parker hotline. What's your scoop?

_We cut to the theatre Mary-Jane was performing in at the beginning. In one of the corridors, Angela - MJ's ditzy blonde co-star that night - dials a number on her mobile. She has a copy of the Bugle in her hand._

ANGELA: I'm a friend of Mary-Jane Watson...and, well I'm not sure I should be saying this, but...

_We cut to Jameson's office. He's sitting opposite Brock, puffing on another cigar. We see Brock has one too, albeit a smaller one. _

JAMESON: Selling out faster than we can print it! I'm having to hire other presses to meet demand! Eddie my boy, congratulations - this is the greatest comeback since Lazarus!

EDDIE: (_blowing out smoke luxuriously_) This is just the beginning, Jonah.

JAMESON: That's still Mr. Jameson to you. Don't get cocky. I can't believe it! All the time the wall-crawler under my nose and I didn't see it! I _knew _there was something odd about that boy, I _knew _it!

_The office door bursts open, and the telephonist who took Angela's call bursts in._

TELEPHONIST: You are _not_ gonna believe this.

BROCK: What'd I tell you...just the beginning.

_We cut to a new batch of newspapers being delivered to the newsstands. The new headline now reads SPIDERMAN'S SECRET SWEETHEART! Underneath now is the picture of Peter in the suit alongside a publicity shot of Mary-Jane Watson._

_People are snapping this up too. Two women buy it._

WOMAN: Hey whaddaya know? She dumped the astronaut for a superhero.

WOMAN 2: (_sarcastically_)Some girls got it real tough, don't they.

_We cut back to Jonah. He's simmering with rage._

JAMESON: I want Parker. I want Parker _now._

EDDIE: (_on the phone_) Our source at the NYPD just called. The lawyer of some street punk Spiderman punched is pressing charges. The NYPD's put out an APB for Peter Parker's immediate arrest on suspicion of assault.

JAMESON: God bless New York. Get me Channel Six.

**Act 2, Scene 30**

_A crowd has gathered to watch the televisions at a television store. Unseen, Spiderman drops to the street opposite. Ducking into the shadows he emerges as Peter Parker. He touches his head, concerned still that he will be spotted. Luckily there's a stall selling baseball caps beside him. He grabs one and pulls it down low over his eyes._

_Jameson is on every television in the store window. Peter crosses the street to watch with the rest of the crowd._

JAMESON: ...the New York Police Department have had enough. I've had enough. And you, you the great public of this great city, you've had enough of this...this menace!

_Peter's mouth sets in a thin line. We get the impression he, too, may have had enough of a certain newspaper runner._

JAMESON: That's why I'm personally offering one hundred thousand dollars to anyone, _anyone_ who can bring in Peter Parker, or "Spiderman"!

_The crowd murmur in amazement._

CROWD GUY: A hundred Gs? For that money I'd do him myself.

CROWD GIRL: Geez man, you are _sick_. Spidey's tried his best for scum like you and you'd stab him in the back for money?

_Some of the crowd agree with her, but not many. Most are either silent or throwing in similar comments to the first guy._

CROWD GUY: I say we form up. He'd cream us one by one. Who's with me?

_The girl curls her lip in disgust and walks away, taking a few with her. Nine or ten, mostly men but some women, stay behind._

CROWD GUY: We get weapons and we keep an eye out. Likely someone else will bag him, but ya never know in this town. Am I right?

_He nudges the figure next to him for agreement. That just happens to be Peter._

_We cut to inside the clothes shop across the road, the same shop Peter stole the cap from. We hear a thump and see something large coming toward the window-_

_The window shatters. With the tail end of a scream, the body of the crowd guy sprawls over the downed rails. He moans and tries to sit up before passing out. _

_We go back to Peter, standing with a truly terrible expression on his face, one of a man who's fast losing all restraint in the face of his world unravelling. He stands in the midst of a crowd of stunned onlookers, hardly able to believe what they have just witnessed. _

PETER: You're not wrong...

**END OF ACT TWO**


	3. Act 3

**Act 3, Scene 1**

_A crowded train rumbles through flat fields. It's daybreak. We travel through the compartment until we find our now easily-recognisable (to us) heavily-disguised Mary-Jane Watson, sitting staring out the window. Beside her, a middle-aged woman's headphones lead to a small pocket television she keeps in her lap. She's glued to it. _

_We stay on Mary-Jane's wistful window-staring for another moment before the woman beside her gives such a gasp that MJ is startled and looks around. Seeing that the woman's attention is still on the television, she looks down. The picture is of the Bugle's front page headline, the one revealing that Spiderman is Peter Parker._

MARY-JANE: Oh my God…

TV WOMAN: (_far too loudly_) I KNOW! WHO'DA THOUGHT IT, HUH?

_Everyone else on the train looks over at them. Mary-Jane grimaces apologetically at them before making 'take your headphones out' mimes to the woman._

TV WOMAN: WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR EARS?

_Mary-Jane repeats the gesture. The woman catches on eventually and removes the headphones._

TV WOMAN: (_still at exactly at the same volume as before_) WHAT?

MARY-JANE: I'm sorry…does that have speakers?

_The woman removes the headphone jack from the television. As she does this we turn around and the small television grows bigger until it fills the screen._

NEWSCASTER (V/O): …York _stunned _today by this revelation. Over the past three years Spiderman has become almost part of the fabric of this city, and while speculation over his identity was initially rife, it had faded, as if we'd accepted we'd simply never _know_ who was behind the mask. Well, we know now; Peter Parker, a twenty-two year old young NYU student-

_We pull back. More than twenty passengers have crowded around to watch the television. Mary-Jane, meanwhile, has gone deathly pale._

WATCHING WOMAN: He's not _that _cute.

WATCHING MAN: He must be a helluva lot stronger than he looks.

_The voice-over is interrupted and the picture changes to the news studio anchorwoman. _

ANCHORWOMAN: …and some breaking news; we've just received word that the _Bugle _editor J. Jonah Jameson, the man who broke the story and recently offered a one hundred _thousand _dollar reward for Spiderman's capture, has announced that _another _special edition of the newspaper will be published this morning…centred around the new claim that - now get _this_ - New York's own rising starlet Mary-Jane Watson is having a secret affair with Peter Parker-

_She continues to speak, but it's Mary-Jane we're focussed on now and the news report fades into the background as we see the full weight of what she has just heard settle on Mary-Jane. She's wanted the world to know about her and Pete for some time, but not like this. (N.B. the following dialogue is likewise only just audible – it's Mary Jane we're worried about here)_

WATCHING WOMAN: (_disgustedly_) Oh now I get it. (_off looks_) Don't you see? When does her new sitcom premiere, like two weeks from now? Don't you think this will help ratings?

TV WOMAN: Oh, that's real smart.

_The television's sound comes back into comfortable hearing range for us._

ANCHORWOMAN: …well, I'm delighted to say that joining us now is our resident culture vulture Ted Phillips, and as a very special guest the investigative reporter who broke this story…Eddie Brock. Welcome.

_Mary-Jane's head whips around to the television. Her eyes flash with anger. When she speaks, it's in exactly the same tone of voice as when Peter said-_

MARY-JANE: Brock…

EDDIE: Morning, Jane. Looking good.

_The anchorwoman fawns a little. It's a clear case of success breeding success; this is the same Eddie Brock who as a struggling journalist was seen as slimy and cloying. Now, a hot media property, he's suddenly got charm…_

ANCHORWOMAN: This is probably the biggest story of the year-

EDDIE: Well, I'd say the biggest in the last three or four, but then I _would _say that…

_We cut to Mary-Jane disembarking. As she walks off the train at Atlanta central, we intercut between her walking and studio footage of the interview. _

ANCHORWOMAN: I understand Mr Jameson has offered you a new column?

EDDIE: Yes…it's a temporary thing at the moment to cover the Spiderman-Peter Parker exclusive, but I have a funny feeling I won't be going anywhere afterward. Eddie Brock is here to stay.

_The man sitting beside him, Ted Phillips, rolls his eyes._

ANCHORWOMAN: Ted, you've kept your finger on the Big Apple's pulse for over twenty years now. What's your take on today's events?

TED: Jane, the one thing I feel is pity. I pity Peter Parker and I pity Mary-Jane Watson. Until now they've lived their lives as their own, but now New York owns them and I think it's going to bite them in the ass. That's assuming Parker doesn't wind up dead thanks to our trigger-happy boys on the NYPD…

**Act 3, Scene 2**

_A police helicopter amongst the high-rise of Manhattan, hot on the tail of Spiderman. It's the same helicopter and the same crew he had a confrontation with in Act 1, Scene 5. _

PILOT: Ready for some payback?

SNIPER: Oh hell yeah. Let's get the formalities done with.

_We cut to Spiderman. He webs the side of a building with his other hand and detaches his main webline, causing the second web to yank him backward like a bungee cord and allowing him to execute a staggeringly tight turn. The helicopter struggles to keep up._

LOUDSPEAKER: THIS IS THE NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT. LAND ON THE NEAREST ROOF AND PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEAD OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE.

_We cut back to the helicopter. _

PILOT: I don't think he's gonna listen.

SNIPER: Aw, damn.

_He begins shooting. He's good, but he's no match for a spider-sense; the bullets go extremely close but Spiderman always seems to be able to twist his body in the right way to avoid the bullets. The chase continues as he shoots. Spiderman swings over the Chrysler Building and plummets into the avenue beyond…just as another police helicopter joins the pursuit. Another sniper begins firing. Bullets slice through the air, peppering Spiderman's trajectory a split-second behind him. _

_Now facing two high-powered rifles, Spiderman must up his game. He takes a ninety-degree turn around a twenty-storey building. The helicopters turn to follow him…and find he's nowhere to be seen._

PILOT: You got him?

SNIPER: I don't got him.

PILOT: Great…(_flicks switch_) base, we lost target.

_We haven't lost him, however. He's flattened himself to the underside of an overhang on one of the buildings he swung past. The helicopters stay hovering for a moment and then split up and fly off, resuming the search._

_Spiderman is breathing somewhat heavily, but we sense it may not be due to exertion. Although we can't see his face, the black suit has stretched tighter than usual, so we can see at least a hint of the stress concealed beneath. As we watch he paws at the mask and it vanishes on cue. Peter looks terrible. He holds a hand to his temple, as if fighting off a migraine._

_The world flashes into a black void, then flashes back to the New York morning. Peter groans in pain. We see the surface of his suit ripple._

_The world flashes again into the void, which stays for longer this time. Long enough for Peter to see another glimpse of that shadowed silhouette lurking. This time it's closer to us and we can see a little more of it – it's human-shaped, but the face…the face is wrong somehow, and those teeth…_

THING: Join…me.

_Something moves within that unnaturally large mouth, behind those needle-pointed teeth._

THING: Join…with…me.

_Peter's back to reality again, back hanging from a New York building. From within the building he's attached to he sees movement. A woman is inside, on the phone. She's looking directly at him. His newly-augmented hearing picks up what she's saying._

WOMAN: …he's hanging off my building! Yeah! Hey, is there some sorta reward for this?

_Spiderman simply lets go, vanishing from sight. We cut to him some time later dropping into a deserted alley. Police sirens blare in the distance. He melts into the shadows between two dumpsters, slumping to the ground, perhaps now genuinely coming close to exhaustion. _

_We see a flash-memory of him punching the guy across the street into the clothes shop window. Reality returns and he clutches at his temple, obviously agonised at the recollection._

_An old tramp pushing a cart enters the alleyway, collecting cans. He has a radio taped to his cart. _

RADIO: …escaped again. Meanwhile crime in New York has seen a massive spike in the wake of the frenzy. With the police and Spiderman too busy with each other, it seems the real winners today are the criminals.

TRAMP: (_muttering_)Lousy cops…

_He fiddles with the tuning dial until another station comes through._

RADIO: …seems as though the police simply won't have the manpower to deal with the crowd converging on the Parker household...

_In the shadows, Spiderman's head lifts._

**Act 3, Scene 3**

_Aunt May's house. Peter Parker's childhood home. The police have cordoned it off, but there are only around four or five squad cars and already well over three hundred people converging. The vast majority are simply curious rubbernecking civilians anxious to see if Peter is at home, but there are a large number of particularly villainous looking types hanging around too. _

POLICE: (_through loudspeaker_) Please disperse. Nothing to see here. Please return to your normal tasks.

_Nine or ten hoods are standing in a close-knit group. _

HOOD 1: Freak busted six of our boys last year alone.

HOOD 2: Left me hangin from a damn lamp-post for three hours.

HOOD 3: Yeah? At least he let _you_ dangle right way up.

HOOD 1: Well boys…it's payback time.

_There are low rumbles of assent from his companions. Moments later the shooting begins. One of the gang ducks down behind a car with a bag, which he unzips. It's a compartmentalised bag with petrol bottles inside, rags attached – a sack full of Molotov cocktails. He distributes these to a few of the gang whilst the gun battle continues with the police. _

_One of the petrol bombs sails through the air and lands on Aunt May's front porch, where it explodes, showering flame and debris. Seconds later another lands. _

_We follow a third bomb as it arcs toward its target. Midway there however it's snatched from the air. The carrier lands on the roof. It's Spiderman, enraged. He winds his arm back and hurls the bomb back from where it came. _

HOOD 2: Oh sh…

_He dives for cover just as Spiderman's bomb smashes into the satchel, exploding and triggering the others still in there. Fragments of superheated glass and flame rain down on the scene. There are screams from the bystanders. Spiderman ignores the screams and webs the fires on the porch and front windows, starving them of oxygen and quenching the flames._

_Shots begin to track in Spiderman's direction from the hoods below. He spreads his arms and webs with deadly accuracy. Six hoods are picked up and yanked viciously forward, crashing into cars, concrete and cops. _

_Not done yet, Spiderman leaps from the roof right into the middle of the melee below and beginning to take apart all comers. A hood takes a swing. Spiderman ducks effortlessly and smashes the man into a car, breaking every window in the vehicle. _

_And that's when the car alarm sounds, and everything changes._

_The piercing howl of the alarm has Spiderman clutching his head immediately. We see the surface of his suit churning violently, more violently than it has since it first augmented itself to him via Chang's bite. Spiderman sinks to his knees, in tremendous pain. _

_The police there see their opportunity. With most of the hoods out of action, a few cops fan out and cover the others, giving three officers the chance to approach Spiderman. On his hands and knees, he crawls toward the car as they approach._

COP 1: FREEZE!

_Spiderman's hand wraps around the car's fender. He pulls himself underneath the car and with one huge heave and kick, the car is airborne. Everyone ducks, but the car sails over their heads and lands sixty feet away in a grass clearing. By the time everyone has recovered from the scare – including the police – Spiderman has vanished._

_More squad cars arrive on the scene and the hoods are cuffed. The cop who yelled 'Freeze!' is approached by one of the new arrivals._

COP 1: It was the noise. The noise hurt him…

**Act 3, Scene 4**

_Mary-Jane steps out of a taxi. She's in a leafy suburb in Atlanta. She checks the address on the mailbox with the address on a piece of paper in her pocket and nods, satisfied._

_We cut to the front door. MJ raps once, twice. Moments later it's opened by an old lady who bears more than a passing resemblance to Aunt May._

MARY-JANE: Nellie?

NELLIE: Yes? Can I help you, dear?

MARY-JANE: Is May Parker here?

NELLIE: Oh, you're not another one are you! Like I told the others, I don't want to talk about my sister's nephew! Good day!

_She makes to slam the door but MJ grabs it and holds it open._

MARY-JANE: No, you don't understand…I'm Peter's girlfriend, Mary-Jane Watson. I'm here to see Aunt May. She's expecting me. Please, I need to speak to her.

NELLIE: Well you're out of luck dear. She was here for a little while, yes, but then that nice young friend of yours came to collect her.

_Mary-Jane's eyes widen._

MARY-JANE: Friend of mine?

NELLIE: Yes. Handsome young man. Name was…oh let me think-

MARY-JANE: (_flatly_) Harry.

NELLIE: That was h…oh…my dear…is everything-

_By the time she trails off Mary-Jane has turned tail and is sprinting away from her door. She heads for the road at the end of the street, taking out her mobile phone and switching it on…before she remembers._

MARY-JANE: You broke it…

_She reaches the road and flags down a taxi. _

DRIVER: Where to?

MARY-JANE: Airport. And hurry, please...

**Act 3, Scene 5**

_The offices of the Sentinel. A room inside, filled with people. The low buzz of conversation fills the room. Lynas enters at the head of the room and the buzz melts away. It's a meeting of the Web. He cuts straight to the point._

LYNAS: You know why you're all here.

_We see that Robbie is in the front row. Everyone looks grim._

ROBBIE: He needs our help. Jesus, what he must be feeling – the entire _city _is coming down on him out there.

LYNAS: At the minute there's nothing we can do.

ROBBIE: You _own a newspaper_! There's _plenty _you can do! Jonah has no evidence apart from one picture. He's counting on no serious challenges coming forward and so far no-one has. But people respect the _Sentinel_.

LYNAS: We can rubbish it all we want but unless we prove it's _not _Peter – and that, needless to say, might prove difficulyt nothing will change. That's the media culture we live in, ladies and gentlemen.

WOMAN: I heard he put some guy through a window.

_An uncomfortable silence follows that statement._

LYNAS: As Robbie said, he must be under immense strain at the moment. He saved all of our lives – I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's a hero, and he'll prove it to this city again.

ROBBIE: Who's gonna let him, Lynas? He'll be arrested or killed before he has a chance to prove anything to anyone.

_As he says those last two sentences, we fade into a view of Peter sitting on one of the birds on the side of Chrysler Building, the exact place where he sat the night his Uncle Ben was killed. He looks out over New York with haunted, hunted eyes. _

**Act 3, Scene 6**

_Mary-Jane leaves JFK airport. Before she can call a taxi, a limousine pulls up. The passenger door opens and Lynas leans out._

LYNAS: Get in.

MARY-JANE: Who are you?

LYNAS: Peter's boss.

MARY-JANE: Sorry, but I'm in a _real _rush here-

_She turns to walk away._

LYNAS: He's different now isn't he? Something happened to him after that shuttle crashed. Something went _into _him, and it's changing him.

_She turns back._

MARY-JANE: You better be going my way.

LYNAS: My dear, I guarantee it.

**Act 3, Scene 7**

_The light is beginning to fade from New York. We fade through a succession of images showing a city degenerating into increasing lawlessness; muggings, robberies and carjackings are rife. We follow the little girl who lost her balloon as her mother and father scoop her up from outside her home and bring her indoors. Before her front door shuts she turns to look up at the rooftops one last time. _

LITTLE GIRL: Bye, Peter.

_A group of Spider-slayers walk up one of the working-class streets. Every man and woman is armed, most with crude two-by-fours, some with bats, some with guns. We see the fearful faces of the little girl's parents watching from inside their homes as they pass._

_Inside the house, the television is still on, and coverage of the day's events is still ongoing. Amateur footage of the two helicopters' pursuit of Spiderman from earlier that day is playing._

ANCHORMAN: Since then we've had only sporadic and rumoured sightings of Spiderman throughout the city. But with much of the city's police and a huge number of self-proclaimed 'Spider-slayers' roaming the streets searching for him, that's hardly surprising.

LITTLE GIRL: But Daddy, he's nice. He got me my balloon.

DADDY: Rosie, dear, what have I told you about your stories?

_She pouts._

LITTLE GIRL: I hope he stays lost. You're all so mean to him. He's a nice kind man!

**Act 3, Scene 8**

_A man's body slams against an alleyway wall. Before he has the chance to collapse to the ground someone grabs him and pins him in place. It's Spiderman._

SPIDERMAN: You tell the rest of your buds that they can stay the hell away from me, do you hear me? One hundred K may be a lot of money, but the kind of surgery you'll need after trying to get it will cost a _hell _of a lot more.

_He dumps the man to the ground and leaps straight up and out of the alleyway, landing on the roof above. One kilometre or so east a police helicopter is shining a searchlight on the rooftops as it performs a flyover. Spiderman kneels behind a wall to find cover. _

_We go to the void again. The figure is incredibly close now, a looming presence in the darkness, the glinting of its eyes like two ice-cold stars in the twilight. _

THING: Join.

PETER: Who are you...

THING: Power.

PETER: I need more. I'm not strong enough.

_The teeth glint. It's smiling._

THING: More...from...join. Join...power.

_We're back on the rooftop. Spiderman shakes his head to clear it, putting out a hand to steady himself as the effects of the vision wear off._

_We cut to high above, and the Goblin on his glider, his helmet removed. He watches Spiderman suffer with obvious relish._

GOBLIN: Had enough, Spiderman? It's only just beginning.

**Act 3, Scene 9**

_Harry's mansion, an ominous looking hulk in the fading light. Lynas' limo pulls up outside and deposits Mary-Jane outside. As she gets out of the car Lynas leans out._

LYNAS: You're sure about this.

MARY-JANE: (_looking admirably sure_)Yes.

LYNAS: No…this is crazy. The police should-

MARY-JANE: No.

LYNAS: Then at least let me –

MARY-JANE: No! You have somewhere to go. So go.

_Lynas looks at her and nods. _

MARY-JANE: Thank you.

LYNAS: Peter's a lucky man.

_The car pulls away. Mary-Jane looks up at the huge mansion before her, gathers herself, and approaches the front door._

**Act 3, Scene 10**

_Connors lab. In stark contrast to Spiderman's stealthy sneak-in tactics, Lynas bursts through the front doors, startling Connors. _

CONNORS: I should really get a lock for that.

LYNAS: Doctor Connors. We need to talk about a recent unusual visitor to your facilites.

CONNORS: Which one?

LYNAS: Spiderman. He came here to see you, didn't he?

CONNORS: Yes. Now who exactly are you?

LYNAS: Doctor Connors, Lynas Stewart. I'm a great admirer of your work. I was saddened to read NYU had refused funding for your genetic research program. I'm a supporter of progressive science myself you see. Well, one has to spend one's vast personal fortune on something, hmm?

_We can literally see the penny dropping in Connors' eyes. He swallows nervously._

CONNORS: Nice to meet you, sir.

LYNAS: Now, let's talk about Spiderman, shall we?

**Act 3, Scene 10**

_Back to Spiderman on the rooftop. He seems woozy still when the helicopter nearby begins broadcasting._

POLICE: THIS IS THE NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT. DUE TO LEVELS OF UNREST ALL RESIDENTS IN THE AREA SHALL NOW ABIDE BY AN EMERGENCY CURFEW. STREETS MUST BE CLEAR IN THIRTY MINUTES.

_In the street below, front doors open. Residents mill out onto their front porches, looking up at the helicopter above. All seem enraged._

RESIDENT: Curfew my ass!

RESIDENT 2: Yeah you come down _here_ and say that!

_The helicopter promptly belches flame from its aft section. Spiderman's spider-sense flares and he's up and standing in a second, in time to see the debris from the tail section of the craft rain down on the streets below. The chopper begins to spin crazily out of control. _

_The residents below, having just milled out of their houses, now scramble back inside again. _

PILOT: I can't hold her! I can't hold her!

_And through the evening sky from directly above comes a familiar sight - the Goblin atop his glider, second pumpkin bomb primed and ready in hand._

GOBLIN: Curfew revoked!

_Spiderman moves, leaping from the roof and webbing the opposite side of the street. He secures a line snaking from one rooftop to the other like a washing-line and, this done, webs the helicopter with both hands, jumping off the roof as he does so. When his webline to the chopper is secure, he adjusts his aim and webs to the securing line above, just as the helicopter below, in its death throes, is about to impact._

_The whole harness tightens...and holds. Just. The helicopter's momentum is arrested and it is suspended above-ground for a second, before the webs give way and the chopper falls all of the remaining ten feet or so. The crew manage to flee the craft before the fuel tank ignites and the copter goes up in a ball of flame._

_We rise above the fireball as it climbs, high above the street below and onto the aerial combat realm currently occupied by the Goblin and Spiderman. They come together in mid-air with a tremendous impact, sending the glider spinning. Spiderman is sent flying also but stops himself easily by simply throwing out a hand and attaching himself to the wall of the nearest building. _

_The Goblin, meanwhile, was thrown upward and simply somersaults with amazing gracefulness to a ledge thirty feet or so above Spiderman's head. The two antagonists look at each other. It's one of those John Woo-esque moments, the eerie calm of two people who know that they're about to fight until one of them dies._

GOBLIN: Havin' a good day so far, Pete?

SPIDERMAN: I'm still alive. So it's gonna beat yours.

GOBLIN: Does it hurt to see your life flushed down the toilet? Maybe now you know how it felt when I saw you standing over my father's body. Maybe now you know how it felt to take off that mask and see my best friend's face staring up at me.

SPIDERMAN: You know what, Harry? I'm tired paying for the fact that you're a loser. You were the pampered son of a multi-millionaire. You had everything and you screwed it up. Your father saw in me in five minutes more potential for a son than he _ever _saw in you, you miserable...excuse...for a human being.

GOBLIN: No more bluffs.

SPIDERMAN: Suits me.

_Spiderman stands up at a ninety-degree angle and begins running up the building, a scream building in his lungs. The Goblin leaps off the ledge and onto the just-arriving glider, crouches, and flies straight downward in a collision course._

_At the last moment before another impact, both men twist their bodies. The Goblin dismounts the glider and swings downward as the glider loops with its front prongs deployed, meaning to trap Spiderman into being either impaled or laid open for a massive blow. _

_But Spiderman has anticipated the move and lashes out with a foot placed between the prongs. The glider is deflected off-course and Spiderman is free to grab the Goblin by the torso and whirl him around and free, sending him fully two hundred feet and straight through the side of a building. Wasting no time, Spiderman webs and chooses his trajectory with such precision that his body drops into the hole in the building - a high-rise office block - the Goblin has just created._

_We don't follow into the building. Instead we stay with the glider as it levels out and begins tracking back to its owner, ignoring the hole, flying past the side of the building and finally flying all the way around to the opposite side-_

_-just in time to see the Goblin sent rocketing through the windows there, the victim of another truly enormous Spiderman punch. The glider maneouvres underneath his master so he is able to reach up and grab onto its edge to arrest his fall. Somersaulting around so he stands atop it again, the Goblin reaches down and opens a compartment in the glider's interior. His explosive toys are revealed inside. _

_A black dart shoots clear of the building the Goblin has just been forced to vacate, heading straight for the glider. The Goblin activates three of the pumpkins and hurls them clear, before causing the glider to drop like a stone. Spiderman misses his target and swings around in a one-eighty, in time to see the three bombs - which now have now grown elongated conical noses - ignite. They're missiles. _

_Homing missiles, to be precise._

_Twisting to avoid the first missile, Spiderman does not notice until too late the thin whiplash wire fired by the Goblin. It wraps itself around him, pinning his arms to his sides, making him helpless to web away as the other two missiles bear down on him. We see him go limp, as if he's giving up...and for a split second, we flash to the void, and the thing therein. It growls, and when we go back to Spiderman he's able to break apart the cord with a mighty snap of his arms and legs. _

_There's still the little matter of the missiles. Webbing both, Spiderman throws them at their sender. Jinking desperately, the glider is nonetheless damaged by the shockwaves their detonations create. Losing altitude rapidly, the Goblin descends over Central Park and dismounts, vanishing into the greenery below. Swinging high, Spiderman drops from two hundred feet or more into the trees, hot on his trail._

_We cut to a police helicopter about a mile away._

PILOT: Sighting over Central Park. We might have the Goblin _and _Spiderman.

BASE: Roger that. All units in area, assist immediately. Ready the counter-measures.

PILOT: Affirmative.

_He flicks a switch. Affixed to the helicopter's roof beside the loudspeaker unit is a mysterious box. It hums into life._

PILOT: (_nervously_)This is it...

**Act 3, Scene 11**

_Connors lab. He's showing Lynas the readouts of Spiderman's body. _

CONNORS: I got the results of the detailed scans I ran only a few hours ago. Whatever this thing is, it's spreading throughout your friend's system...but not in his cerebral cortex. There it seems to be unable to spread nearly so quickly.

LYNAS: His mind is resisting control.

CONNORS: For now, yes. But the effects of the symbiote on the rest of the body are working like a drug. Soon he'll be convinced he can't function without it, and when he accepts that...

LYNAS: ...it'll control him completely.

CONNORS: Yes.

LYNAS: How long does he have?

CONNORS: As little as twenty-four hours. Maybe less.

LYNAS: So what do we do?

CONNORS: Damage the host enough and the symbiote will detach and seek another.

LYNAS: Damage Spiderman? How do we do that? He's evaded the entire NYPD.

CONNORS: I haven't the faintest idea.

_Lynas seems about to say something when his mobile rings. He answers._

LYNAS: Yes? (_pause_) Central Park? Thank you. I'll be there. Good talking to you Doctor. I'll send you a grant.

_He turns to go and remembers one more thing._

LYNAS: Who was the other?

CONNORS: Other?

LYNAS: When I asked you about unusual visitors, you said _which one_? So who was the other visitor, Doctor?

**Act 3, Scene 12**

_The darkened interior of the Osborn mansion, looking like exactly the sort of house you wouldn't want to wander about in alone. We travel down the wood-panelled corridor and see the beautiful antique windows, each one imported from Europe and lovingly-_

_-smash-_

_-broken by a large rock being thrown through it. We cut to Mary-Jane outside, hiding behind a statue in the grounds. She closes her eyes and grimaces, clearly expecting something to happen. Nothing does._

MARY-JANE: (_incredulously_)No alarms?

_With commendable agility Mary-Jane scrambles up a small wall and, taking care where to place her hands to avoid the broken glass, is soon landing softly on the plush carpet inside. She sets off down the corridor. We cut to her wandering through the house's various rooms, until finally she comes to the study…_

MARY-JANE: (_in horror_) Bernard…

_She leans down by the manservant's body, tears welling up in her eyes, unable to believe that someone she called friend could have done this. If it hadn't already, the knowledge that Harry really has changed finally sinks in. _

_There's a muffled noise from somewhere. _

MARY-JANE: Aunt May?

_We cut to the mirror that serves as the entrance to the Goblin's lair. Mary-Jane's reflection approaches us. The mansion is in almost total darkness, so she's not exactly sprinting to the noise. It sounds again - faint, but unmistakable; a human voice._

_MJ puts her ear to the glass. _

MARY-JANE: Aunt May? Aunt May, it's Mary-Jane.

_The faint noise again. Mary-Jane puts her fingers between the frame and the wall and tugs experimentally. Nothing gives. Letting her hand linger for a second in the gap, we see the fine hair on the back of her arm be blown by a draught. There's definitely something behind the mirror. _

_Mary-Jane looks around the room in desperation. Her eyes alight on one of the many exhibit cases filled with Norman Osborn's passion - weapons and masks. There's a large double-bladed axe in one case nearby. She breaks the glass holding it (again, no alarms) and hefts it in her hands, before turning around to face us. It's an incredible image - the once-meek perennial victim Mary-Jane Watson walking toward camera, hefting a double-bladed axe and with a face like thunder. As she steps to one side of the mirror, lifting the axe, ready to swing it into the glass_, _she calls out-_

MARY-JANE:Aunt May...stand back. I'm coming through.

**Act 3, Scene 13**

_Deep inside Central Park's treeline. A green-suited hand grasps a trunk. The Goblin moves stealthily through the foilage. He's hyper-alert and aware of the smallest noise or disturbance from around him. _

SPIDERMAN (V/O): I see you, Harry.

_The Goblin's head snaps around, first one way, then another. He sees nothing, detects no movement. A few birds, disturbed from their nest, flee from the treetops above. He readies a pumpkin bomb and dives to his left, waiting for a target to present itself, but none does._

SPIDERMAN (V/O): Isn't it weird Harry...no matter what you do to try to match me, I'm always better than you.

GOBLIN: You're not better than me.

_The Goblin sees something up ahead. He begins to circle to the right. _

SPIDERMAN (V/O): Say that to my face.

GOBLIN: I'll say it over your dead bo-

_He stops, and turns his head to the right. Hanging suspended from a branch is Spiderman, right on top of him._

SPIDERMAN: Gotcha.

_Before Harry can react Spiderman lands a massive blow to the torso, knocking Harry through several trees. They tumble to the ground. Above in the police helicopter, the crew veer in the direction of the felling greenery._

PILOT: Fire it up. On my signal.

_We go back to the Goblin, just picking himself up. Spiderman is walking boldly toward him, hardly visible by more than the white spider motif on his chest. _

GOBLIN: This new you is beginning to get on my nerves-

_At 'nerves' he launches his counter-attack. In contrast to the fight he won when Spiderman was protecting Chang, this time his opponent is a step ahead of every punch, every kick. For a while Spiderman simply avoids every blow the Goblin tries to land on him. _

SPIDERMAN: You can't win, Harry. Get over it.

_He webs the Goblin's arm and heaves, picking him up entirely, before whirling him around his head and flinging him away...only to web him and pull him right back in time to meet another series of superfast punches. _

_With the Goblin recovering from this assault, Spiderman's left hand drops to his midriff. The suit parts and releases the vial of antidote Connors gave him. Spiderman closes his hand around it-_

_-and just as he does so, the police helicopters arrive on the scene. There are three of them, and they converge in perfect unison, shining their powerful searchlights down on the clearing below and illuminating the scene; Spiderman with the Goblin dangling in front of him. _

_Spiderman places the antidote vial on his chest and it's re-absorbed._

SPIDERMAN: You'd think you would have gotten the message by-

PILOT: Punch 'em!

_He flicks the switch, as do the two other pilots. The boxes beside the loudspeaker unit activate, and begin broadcasting an incredibly loud signal similar to the car alarm. _

SPIDERMAN: What..._aaaaaaaagh_...

_We see the helicopter crews, all wearing protective headgear to block out the noise. Even so those that can afford to have their hands over their ears as well. _

_To Spiderman, the effect is devastating. He drops the Goblin and sinks to his knees instantly, the black suit in turmoil, rising up from his skin in waves before crashing back down. Every time it is re-absorbed it causes Spiderman to wail in agony. He curls up into a foetal ball, clutching at his head._

_The Goblin rises to his feet above him. He tips a salute to the helicopters above._

POLICE: PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!

_The Goblin complies...but one of his hands reaches over and presses a wrist control on his other arm. We see the glider rise from the treetops from where it crashed._

GOBLIN: (_shouting_)I love the NYPD! Don't you!

_Spiderman doesn't - or can't - reply. The symbiote is in agony, and thus so is he. As we watch he loses his battle for consciousness._

GOBLIN: You don't, huh? (_shrugs_) But they're so...

_He presses another button. The glider's front compartment opens and two missiles deploy, each targeting a different helicopter. The pilots don't have time to react before they and their crafts become fireballs. _

GOBLIN: ...flammable.

_The third helicopter opens fire, but it's been blown off-course by the explosions of its sister craft. The Goblin leaps and the glider smoothly assumes its customary position underneath him. _

_The pilot of the third copter hollers in fear as the Goblin, laughing like a maniac, bears down upon them..._

**Act 3, Scene 14**

_Our world swims back into focus, and we realise we're looking at Spiderman's head, and that Spiderman himself is just regaining consciousness. Obviously remembering the circumstances of his blackout, he jerks in panic and tries to stand up...and fails. He's bound from head to toe in a thin silver wire._

_The Goblin appears, kneeling only a few feet in front of him. Behind him New York stretches out like silver pepper. We pull back and see they're on top of a skyscraper, a round-shaped building around sixty storeys high. _

_The Goblin is holding a box. _

GOBLIN: You know, word of advice - that suit may _look_ good, but between you and me you've never been known to faint at loud noises before.

SPIDERMAN: Oh great. More ranting.

GOBLIN: Now now. Be nice.

_He holds the box in his hands out and activates it. It's the unit from the top of the third helicopter, and it begins to blare out the sonic signal. Spiderman writhes in agony, struggling at the restraining wire, but to no avail._

_The Goblin cuts off the noise._

GOBLIN: I wouldn't bother trying to escape, Pete. That little thin wire just happens to be adamantium. Cost more than you make in...well, ever.

SPIDERMAN: Boasting about money, Harry? Your Daddy would be so proud. If he wasn't dead.

_Furious, the Goblin grabs Spiderman by the mask, lifts him off the ground and walks him to the very edge of the building. _

GOBLIN: I'm going to kill you, Pete. But not just for my father. Oh that was Harry Osborn's motivation sure, but see, I'm not entirely Harry any more.

_We go to a wide-angle shot of the Goblin holding Spiderman over the edge with one hand. The sonic emitter is in the other._

SPIDERMAN: You don't say.

GOBLIN: But you can't forget where you came from. So I think the score needs settling, Pete. For good old Harry to feel a sense of closure on this whole sorry mess.

_Spiderman's mask melts away. Peter stares the Goblin straight in the face._

PETER: So drop me, Harry.

_With his free hand the Goblin removes his own mask._

HARRY: I can't do that, Pete.

PETER: I knew it.

HARRY: Killing you like this wouldn't even the score.

_Awful realisation dawns on Peter at that moment. We see his entire body go rigid with fear and a pent-up anger rising in intensity..._

PETER: What have you done?

_A slow, terrible smile breaks out on Harry Osborn's face._

HARRY: Shame on you, Peter Parker.

_And Peter knows. Just from those first three words, he knows._

PETER: Aunt May...no...what did you _do with her!_

_Harry laughs and walks around the circumference of the roof, Peter redoubling his efforts to get out of the bindings as they walk. _

HARRY: What do you think I did, Pete? I put her up at my place.

_Peter glances over his shoulder. Far below but clearly visible in the distance is the Osborn mansion. _

HARRY: I wouldn't have anything less for Aunt May. She's practically like a mother to me. I just hope she doesn't pry...I think I might have left some of Dad's toys lying around-

_Spiderman's spider-sense begins to shriek in an intensity it never previously has. The Osborn mansion comes into terrible, sharp focus. _

SPIDERMAN: HARRY, NO!

_But Harry presses a button, and the Osborn family mansion, Harry's home...is wiped off the face of the Earth. _

_The explosion is tremendous. The shockwave ripples out, knocking over cars, blowing out windows in a spectacular straight line from the mansion to the building where Spiderman is held. When the debris settles in the epicentre of the blast, nothing of the building remains._

HARRY: Now _that's _what I call closure.

_He tosses Spiderman aside, into the centre of the roof. As soon as his body impacts the ground, we disappear into the void. Peter faces the creature, his expression truly terrible._

THING: Join...with...me.

PETER: Yes.

_Fully unleashed at last, the creature rushes forward. We see the briefest glimpse of razor-sharp teeth and a huge, alien tongue and then we're back on top of the roof. Peter gets to his feet. The Spiderman mask climbs back up his face again. _

_At his midriff, the vial is secreted by the suit. With Peter's hands bound, it drops to the roof and rolls a short distance. Harry notices it. _

HARRY: And what was that?

_With the biggest heave and strain of his life, Spiderman pushes at his bonds from within. They bend and snap, falling to his feet. Astonished, suddenly fearful, Harry takes an involuntary step backward. Spiderman steps forward, and his foot comes down decisively and quite deliberately on the antidote vial, smashing it completely._

SPIDERMAN: That...was the one small chance you had of me not killing you.

_Harry's eyes widen. He hefts the sonic emitter and it blares, but the pain which previously brought Spiderman down...here hardly slows him. He springs with vengeance and hatred in his every movement, his every strike. Harry is knocked from one end of the rooftop to the other. The emitter is destroyed. He swings a few blows, but even serum-enhanced speed and strength is no match for Spiderman in this mood. _

_With one massive punch, Harry is knocked off the roof and begins falling to the sidewalk below. As it has done many times before, his glider slides in underneath him, but he cannot even stand, and merely lies upon it as it carries him toward the explosion. _

_Above, Spiderman leaps from the roof of the circular skyscraper and descends like the shadow of death from above. The jump is so precise that he falls into the glider's flight-path and is able to grab onto it as he falls. He swings himself up onto the underside of the machine and with quick, savage strikes sets about completely ruining the mechanics. The glider loses altitude, smoke pouring from its innards._

_Now irreparably damaged, the glider begins to nosedive for the surface. Spiderman detaches himself. Harry barely manages to roll off the top before the glider impacts, smashing itself to pieces. Harry lands less than gracefully. The glider has carried him far enough so that he has grounded almost at the outskirts of the mansion's (former) gardens. Smoke and debris are still thick in the air._

_Harry glances behind him. A black-clad figure is swooping and looping toward him. He turns tail and half-runs, half-limps toward the midst of the smoke, but to no avail. Spiderman's silhouette through the smoke solidifies suddenly and with one swift movement his legs have impacted Harry's back and pinned the Goblin to the ground. _

_Triumphant, Spiderman rears back up upon his prey, his head to the stars above. Something strange is happening to the mask on his suit...as we watch, it grows a mouth, an opening, from which pointed teeth flash for a second. _

_Harry attempts to get up and only succeeds in being knocked onto his back. He stares up in abject terror at Spiderman above him, poised and ready to deliver the final blow. As we watch Spiderman's hand closes around an object left lying in the charred grass of the Osborn mansion gardens. He lifts a large fragment of glass with a wickedly sharp point. Harry begins to babble in fear._

HARRY: Peter, God...I never meant for any of this to happen. You've gotta believe me Pete. It's Harry. I would never hurt you. Give me a chance, Pete. Give me a _chance! _

PETER: And Aunt May? Did you give her a chance? _Did you!_

_He raises the shard of glass, ready to bring it down upon Harry Osborn-_

AUNT MAY: Peter?

_Frozen on the downstroke, Peter turns his head toward the source of the impossible voice, but sure enough, defying all logic, Aunt May steps from the smoke, looking a little dishevelled but very much alive._

PETER: Aunt May...?

_May nods. _

PETER: How did you-

_Right on cue, Mary-Jane emerges beside her. _

MARY-JANE: You know...I think this makes the score Mary-Jane one, supervillains two.

AUNT MAY: Let's go _home_, Peter.

_Peter's hand relaxes around the shard...but we hear a growl from somewhere, the growl of the symbiote, and his grip tightens again. His suit ripples slightly. _

PETER: I have to do this.

_He raises the razor-sharp piece of glass above his head again, ready to bring it down._

MARY-JANE: Peter, _no_!

PETER: You'll never be safe so long as he's around, MJ. I'm sorry.

_He's just about to strike when-_

AUNT MAY: Would it make him proud?

_She says it calmly, but the effect is immediate. The shard stops an inch from Harry's exposed neck. Peter looks tortured. We don't flashback here, we just stay on the makeshift blade, one quick thrust away from ending Harry Osborn's life. _

_With a jerk it's tossed aside. _

HARRY: What are you doing? _What are you doing_!

_He tries to struggle free, but Peter is too strong and Harry too weak from the preceding fight. _

HARRY: You _promised! _You _promised!_

MARY-JANE: (_as realisation dawns_)Oh my God.

PETER: You want to die?

_Harry breaks down completely into sobbing. He covers his face and curls into a ball. We begin to hear the faint wail of sirens in the background._

HARRY: Kill me...kill me, _please_...

MARY-JANE: He's still in there! Can't you see that? _Harry's_ still in there.

_Aunt May steps forward and places a hand on Peter's arm. He looks up at her and for a second there's communication there - pride on her part, vulnerability on his._

AUNT MAY: I think it's better if you're not here when the police arrive, Peter.

PETER: And him? I'm not leaving you with him.

MARY-JANE: They can't find him like this, Pete.

PETER: (_ominously_)Not a problem.

_We cut to Harry's semi-naked body being lifted onto a stretcher and bundled into the back of an ambulance. He's unconscious and sports bruises all over his torso._

_Another ambulance man is speaking to Mary-Jane and Aunt May. _

AMBULANCE MAN: This is how you found him?

MARY-JANE: In the grounds. Must have been thrown clear.

_Nearby, a police officer discovers the wreckage of the glider. He speaks into his radio. _

POLICE OFFICER: Base, we have probable Goblin involvement.

BASE (V/O): Roger. All units on alert for the Goblin and Spiderman in the area. Both targets to be considered _extremely_ dangerous.

_And as we hear that, we cut back to the ambulance carrying Harry. His eyes snap open and his mouth twists into that hideous Goblin smile..._

**Act 3, Scene 15**

_A private hospital room. A doctor checks a still-unconcious Harry over, mulls over some of the instrument readings._

DOCTOR: This can't be right...

_He taps the monitors and chews his pencil in disbelief. Still muttering to himself, he exits the room. Again, Harry's eyes open. He takes in his surroundings, and seems about to move when he notices someone approaching the door. He assumes his out-cold routine again. _

_The door opens and in steps Mary-Jane. She glances up and down the corridor furtively, but the only occupant is an orderly sweeping the floors. Satisfied, she ducks into the room and approaches the bed, taking out a syringe from her inside pocket. She reaches up to Harry's IV drip and positions the syringe-_

_Harry's hand moves in a heartbeat, clamping around MJ's arm and squeezing. She howls in pain and drops the syringe. Harry sits up and swings his legs out of the bed in one fluid movement._

HARRY: You know suddenly I feel a lot better. It's a miracle...!

_He steps off the bed and takes a step toward a terrified MJ._

MARY-JANE: Harry, please...it's a cure! It's for your own good!

HARRY: You know what would be _real _good right about now, Mary-Jane? Your insides all over this clean floor.

_He takes another step just as the door opens and in steps...the hospital orderly, sweeping up. He glances up from his work and takes in the situation; the terrified Mary-Jane, the advancing Harry. _

ORDERLY: Is now a bad time?

HARRY: Get lost.

MARY-JANE: Help me!

_Harry scoops MJ up by the neck and slams her against the wall. MJ starts to choke and splutter for breath. _

_There's a tap on Harry's shoulder. It's the orderly._

HARRY: I said _get lost_.

ORDERLY: Yeah, I heard ya. But you know what-

_And with two quick movements, the nondescript man has Harry release his grip on MJ, before Harry is slammed backward against the far wall. As Mary-Jane watches agape, the orderly spreads his hands and webs Harry securely to the wall, binding his hands and feet first, then his legs and torso. _

ORDERLY-insides are a bitch to clean.

_The man's skin begins to ripple...and change...and shimmer...pulsing into a blackness before it re-settles into a more familiar shape; Spiderman. _

HARRY: You're going to pay for th-

_With a casual shot, not even looking, Spiderman webs Harry's mouth shut._

SPIDERMAN: I knew all that 'oh please kill me' stuff was crap.

MARY-JANE: You were...different...how did you _do _that?

SPIDERMAN: (_shrugs_) It's new to me too.

_The monitors Harry was hooked to are blaring attention alarms. Footsteps rumble from outside the room. Spiderman pulls the blinds on the window to the corridor and quickly webs the doorhandle shut. Meanwhlie Lynas runs to gather up the syringe, lest it be damaged. _

SPIDERMAN: Is that what I think it is?

MARY-JANE: Connors had made up another batch by the time Lynas visited him. It's got to be administered right now, Peter, if it's to have any chance of working.

_He moves to Harry's neck. Harry struggles mightily, the webbing holding him beginning to weaken. His eyes stare into MJ's, promising painful revenge. As he's about to apply the syringe, Spiderman stops him, clamping his fingers over his wrist._

MARY-JANE: What are you-

SPIDERMAN: What if it works? What then? What's to stop him from taking another dose of serum and this whole nightmare beginning again?

_There are now repeated thumpings on the door, as well as muffled voices from the corridor demanding that whoever is in the room open up immediately._

MARY-JANE: _You _are. I am. We're his friends, aren't we? With the serum gone from his system, at least he'll have the opportunity to make a different choice, to change. Otherwise, you really will have to kill him. And if you do...it's over between us, for good.

_We sense the conflict being played out in Spiderman's mind. This man has beaten him to a bloody pulp, menaced his girlfriend, and kidnapped his beloved aunt with the intention of blowing her to kingdom come. And there's always the thing in the darkness, hungry for blood...whispering suggestions and growling with intent._

SPIDERMAN: Give him a chance.

_He releases MJ's hand. She plunges the syringe into Harry's neck and empties its contents. Harry begins fitting violently but soon calms and then falls unconscious entirely. _

_The door shudders. Spiderman looks to the window to the outside._

SPIDERMAN: Coming?

_We cut to a rooftop nearby. Spiderman lands with Mary-Jane. _

MARY-JANE: You've got to go to Doc Connors, Pete. The thing inside you-

SPIDERMAN-is making me stronger. If it hadn't, I would have died in that river. I _need _it, Mary-Jane. I can't become Peter Parker again.

MARY-JANE: It's _controlling _you, Pete! Can't you see that? You wanted to kill Harry rather than try to cure him!

SPIDERMAN: He deserved it. Just like his father deserved it. Oh, what, I'm sorry, not PG-13 enough for you? My life isn't all saving cats and retrieving balloons. I make the tough choices.

MARY-JANE: And the nightmares, Pete? You too powerful for those now too?

SPIDERMAN: They'll be gone soon.

MARY-JANE: And so will I.

SPIDERMAN: (_webbing a nearby building_) If you want a regular boyfriend - go back to the astronaut.

_He leaps and is gone, leaving Mary-Jane to stare angrily after him, furious and worried in equal parts._

**Act 3, Scene 16**

_Lynas' limo. Mary-Jane is there with Lynas._

LYNAS: That morphing trick...could he do it to look like anyone?

MARY-JANE: I don't know...why?

LYNAS: I have a really _bad_ idea...

**Act 3, Scene 17**

_Establishing shot of a large theatre-type building. We go inside and the place is thronged with journalists, including a just-arriving J. Jonah Jameson and Eddie Brock, trailing along behind him like a faithful lapdog. They sit down in the front row._

_From the side of the stage Lynas emerges. He arrives at the podium._

LYNAS: Thank you all for coming at such short notice.

JAMESON: (_threateningly_) Wouldn't have missed it, and neither would my attorneys.

_We cut back to the back of the theatre. A long line of men in suits are watching proceedings intently._

LYNAS: Such a pleasure as always, Jonah.

_Jonah glowers at him in response. We see his face on a television screen and notice that around the perimeter of the theatre are many camera crews from different networks._

LYNAS: Ladies and gentlemen, my esteemed colleague Mr. Jameson has made certain recent allegations about the identity of one of New York's finest citizens.

JAMESON: (_standing up_)Notorious criminals! If you have some evidence to present Lynas, then let's see it – I'm bored already!

LYNAS: As you wish. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you – Spiderman.

_He gestures toward the far end of the theatre. In unison heads and cameras track up to where he's pointing. A black-clad figure swoops in through one of the windows near the ceiling and proceeds to go through the most astonishing set of acrobatics, swinging, looping, backflipping and webzipping around the arena like a pinball, before finally landing perfectly poised on the stage next to Lynas._

_At first dumbstruck, the collected media bursts into life, shouting questions and queries at Spiderman. Jameson is loudest of all, but he's not directing his attention at Spiderman himself. He stalks over to a policewoman leaning against a wall._

JAMESON: What are you waiting for? Arrest him!

POLICEWOMAN: I've radioed for backup, sir. As soon as it gets here we'll detain the suspect.

JAMESON: And until then you're going to do nothing! How long before backup gets here!

_We travel downward to the woman's hands, which are clasped. We see (but Jameson does not) a small tattoo on her arm._

POLICEWOMAN: Oh, could be some time…

_Back on the podium, Lynas is calling repeatedly for quiet. He eventually manages to quell the rowdy crowd._

LYNAS: And now, ladies and gentlemen of the press – meet the _real _man behind the mask.

_Spiderman steps forward and with one movement pulls off his mask to reveal…_

_Viewing from behind, we don't see his face. All we see are the press' facial expressions – disbelief, disappointment and complete amazement._

_For Spiderman is none other than…Bob. The Spider-Guy._

BOB: (_nervous voice_)Hello New York.

_Jameson stares at Bob open-mouthed. His expression is repeated all over the arena. Onstage, Lynas puts a supportive arm on Bob's shoulder and leans into the microphone._

LYNAS: New York, meet Bob Hesselmeyer. (_confidentially_)He's a little shy.

BROCK: That's not Spiderman! Parker is Spiderman!

BOB: You mean my photographer?

BROCK: Your…your _what?_

LYNAS: Peter and Bob have something of an understanding.

BROCK: Then how do you explain the picture of Parker in the Spiderman outfit?

LYNAS: Well, let's ask the man himself, shall we? He's backstage right now. Peter? Peter…?

_No-one emerges._

BOB: Must be the big crowds…sorry, I'll get him.

_Bob walks offstage. We follow him as he turns a corner so that he's now out of sight, and bumps into…Bob. _

FIRST BOB: You ready?

SECOND BOB: Oh God yes.

_The first Bob takes off his Spiderman mask and hands it to the second Bob. As we watch, first Bob's appearance shimmers and changes into Peter Parker in civilian clothes. Second Bob – real Bob – stares at him in awe._

BOB: You're a God.

PETER: Just get in there.

_They re-emerge back into the arena together, Spiderman and Peter Parker walking side by side. We see a thousand camera flashes go off. Live news feeds carry the story worldwide – Parker not Spiderman; Bugle fooled in hoax. During the following Q&A lights flash in Peter's eyes constantly. He grows more and more irritated by them._

REPORTER: Why were you wearing a Spiderman outfit?

PETER: I do his laundry. I was bored. I was indoors. Is it a crime?

REPORTER 2: Are you involved with Mary-Jane Watson?

_Lynas glances over concerned for this one. We see a shadow pass over Peter's face._

PETER: No.

REPORTER 2: (_to Bob_) Are _you _involved with Mary-Jane Watson?

BOB: (_huge grin_) I'm not at liberty to-

_He glances across and sees Peter's expression._

BOB-no.

_The questions continue. Looking at the two men as they stand on stage with Lynas, their body language is remarkable. 'Spiderman' – Bob – is grinning from ear to ear. This is clearly the proudest moment of his life. On the other hand, Peter Parker seems twitchy, withdrawn, almost surly. _

_Lynas inches closer to Peter._

LYNAS: How are you feeling?

PETER: I've told you. It's under control now.

LYNAS: You're wrong. If you don't remove that thing, you're going to lose control completely. And when you do-

PETER: What? What happens then, hmm?

LYNAS: Get out of here. Now.

_The police burst into the arena, but the stage now contains only Lynas. Parker and Bob are gone. In the surrounding chaos a solitary figure wanders around, looking lost. It's Eddie Brock. He exits the building and descends the steps in a daze, before spotting a familiar figure ahead of him._

BROCK: Mr Jameson!

_Jameson's about to get into his limo. He turns._

JAMESON: What?

BROCK: What's going to be our response to this? It's obviously some kind of trick.

JAMESON: Must be a good one. Fooled me.

BROCK: You…believe them?

JAMESON: (_quietly, calmly, a world away from his usual bluster_)You're fired, Eddie.

BROCK: But…you always say that.

JAMESON: I'm sorry. Now get out of my sight.

_He ducks into the limo. It speeds off, leaving Eddie Brock standing there alone amidst the crowds._

**Act 3, Scene 18**

_Spiderman deposits Bob on a rooftop next to a sports bag left there. Bob picks up the sports bag._

SPIDERMAN: What will you do now?

BOB: Change my clothes I think.

SPIDERMAN: I meant in general, Bob.

BOB: I don't know. Mr. Stewart said he'd help me out, get me some work.

SPIDERMAN: Aren't you afraid?

BOB: Afraid of what?

SPIDERMAN: Afraid for yourself, for your family…there are going to be people out there who will want you dead for who they think you are.

BOB: I have no family. And as for me…I'll vanish. I'm good at that. I can do it without even trying. Even if you're right – the world thinks _I'm _Spiderman. Me. Bob Hesselmeyer. A superhero. I'd have to look down to see heaven. But hey, you know all this already, right?

_Spiderman looks out over New York. _

SPIDERMAN: (_quietly_)Right.

_He doubles over suddenly in pain, his suit rippling, his breath coming in gasps. We hear the low growl of the symbiote._

BOB: Man, what's wrong? Can I help?

SPIDERMAN: Get away from me!

_He pushes Bob away and runs for the edge of the roof. By the time Bob has caught up and looked over the side he is long gone._

**Act 3, Scene 19**

_Aunt May's front room. The television is on. It's another news broadcast delivered by the anchorwoman from Act 3, Scene 1._

ANCHORWOMAN: ...Police Chief confirmed today to the press that, while the NYPD is still holding a warrant out on Spiderman - or 'Bob Hesselmeyer', if you prefer - his status has been downgraded from the all-out manhunt of the past twenty-four hours.

_She continues talking but our attention switches to Aunt May and Mary-Jane. May is sitting sipping tea while MJ dries dishes._

MARY-JANE: Can I ask you something, Aunt May?

AUNT MAY: Aren't I obliged to answer a few of my rescuer's questions? Ask away.

MARY-JANE: How did you feel when you...when you knew about Pete.

AUNT MAY: (_smiles, putting down her tea_)Proud. Oh surprised, it's not something an old woman expects to have a real-life superhero fussing over how heavy her shopping bags are...

_MJ smiles._

AUNT MAY: ...but it felt right. It felt like...something that had been waiting to happen to him. I know that's crazy, but that's how I felt. Of course my memory could be a little off...it _was _almost a year ago now.

MARY-JANE: A year...you've known about Peter since last year?

AUNT MAY: You don't get saved from certain death by a talkative masked man without a few moments of clarity, my dear.

_Once again, Mary-Jane, the girl saved repeatedly by Peter as Spiderman who hadn't the slightest clue about his secret identity, has the decency to look embarrassed._

AUNT MAY: There's something's wrong with Peter, isn't there.

MARY-JANE: Yes.

AUNT MAY: You're hoping he'll come here.

MARY-JANE: He knows we'll be here. He has to come eventually.

AUNT MAY: Do we have enough time to wait?

_Mary-Jane bites her lip, upset. She walks over to the window and looks out onto New York in the distance. Aunt May rises from her chair behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder._

AUNT MAY: Find him.

MARY-JANE: I wouldn't know where to go.

AUNT MAY: You found me. And you _love _Peter. Go. I'll be here if he comes.

_Mary-Jane grabs her overcoat and throws it on. _

MARY-JANE: You call me if he shows up. You call me right away.

AUNT MAY: I will. Good luck.

MARY-JANE: Thanks, Aunt May.

_With that she's out the front door and running. Aunt May watches her go from the front room window, before very slowly and deliberately walking to the table, sitting down, and beginning to cry. And not gentle tears either, but big, whooping sobs. _

_We stay on her for a moment before fading out._

**Act 3, Scene 20**

_Brock walks through the door to his apartment. It's an enormous place and completely barren, a little like Mary-Jane's. _

BROCK: Celine? You here?

_A woman storms out of the bedroom. She's carrying a suitcase. It's the same woman we saw in the picture in Brock's car – the one hanging on his arm with all the romantic feeling of lichen on a rock._

BROCK: What are you doing?

CELINE: Taking my suitcase for a coffee. What do you think? I'm leaving you.

BROCK: But – Celine, what about the wedding?

CELINE: Okay newsflash; hottest journalist in New York proposes to you, you say yes. Laughing stock of New York engaged to you, you run.

BROCK: I'll give you time.

CELINE: (_opening the front door_)I'll give you a restraining order. Do yourself and me a favour, Eddie; get the hell out of the city and stay out. And here's a tip – I'd do it _before_ your first month's rent is due on this place.

BROCK: (_almost in tears_)But…none of this is my _fault…!_

CELINE: No, it isn't. It never is your fault, Eddie. You're one of life's passengers, and it's not enough for me anymore. I want to _go_ somewhere. Starting right now with me going out of this apartment.

_She pauses halfway through the doorway._

CELINE: Goodbye Eddie. Thanks for everything.

EDDIE: No, wait!

_But she slams the door shut in his face. He stands with his forehead pressed against it for a moment, hardly able to believe what is happening to him. Eventually he turns and walks to the window to look out over New York._

_The door raps. Eddie bounds over to it._

EDDIE: Celine? Celine, I-

_It's not Celine. It's Peter Parker, hands on either side of the doorframe, looking like a demon in the darkness. His eyes glint unnaturally. _

PETER: Hello, Eddie.

_His fist lashes out, and the world goes black._

**Act 3, Scene 21**

_Lynas' office. A knock at the door._

LYNAS: Come in.

_Mary-Jane enters. Lynas looks up from his desk and nods curtly, all business._

LYNAS: Miss Watson.

MARY-JANE: Have you found him?

LYNAS: (_looking a little uncomfortable_) Not yet.

MARY-JANE: Where have you looked?

_There's a pause._

MARY-JANE: _Are _you looking?

LYNAS: I have a paper to put out.

MARY-JANE: _What?_

LYNAS: Connors told me if we didn't get that symbiote out of his system in the next few hours, it would be too late. That was half a day ago now, and counting. He's out of control, Mary-Jane.

MARY-JANE: You're giving up on him?

LYNAS: We've gotten the police off his - off _Peter's _- back. We've given you and Peter's aunt your lives back. You're welcome, by the way.

MARY-JANE: _He_ needs you now, more than ever.

LYNAS: We formed the Web to help and honour a hero, Miss Watson. And frankly, I'm not sure that's what Peter is right now. Take my advice - go back to hiding out. Take his aunt with you. Come to me and I'll make it happen.

MARY-JANE: (_getting up in disgust_)I'm trying to find him, not hide from him. I want to help him. See, he's saved my life too, and I think that means I'm not gonna give up on him. If you are, fine.

_Lynas casts his eyes down. She goes the door and is halfway through when-_

LYNAS: Wait.

MARY-JANE: Yes?

LYNAS: Let me get my driver. We've got a _big_ city to search.

**Act 3, Scene 22**

_Eddie Brock wakes up with a start. He stares up at the stars above him, confused, before rolling over...and almost off the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's almost identical to Mary-Jane's awakening at the end of the first movie. Brock panics and yells out in alarm, clutching the bridge tightly, before inching into the centre of the support beam and getting very slowly up on his knees._

BROCK: Spiderman...?

_A familiar figure in black loops lazily over a few beams and lands nimbly on all fours on the opposite end of Eddie's support, his hands between his knees. When he speaks, his voice is different - too deep, too rumbling. _

SPIDERMAN: Nice night.

BROCK: Wh-what do you want?

SPIDERMAN: Just to talk. Me and you. Face...to face.

_As he says the last two words his mask drains away, to reveal Peter underneath..._

**Act 3, Scene 23**

_A car speeding through the New York streets. Inside in the back are MJ and Lynas. _

MARY-JANE: What happened to your limo?

LYNAS: My new driver happened.

_The driver of the car turns around and grimaces apologetically beneath a hideously obvious disguise. _

BOB: Sorry, Mr Stewart.

LYNAS: That's alright Bob.

BOB: I just-

LYNAS: (_calmly_)Eyes on the road Bob. There's a good man.

_Lynas' mobile rings. He answers._

LYNAS: Yes? (_pause_) How long ago? Any witnesses? I see. Keep me informed. Put everyone on this, Janet. _Everyone._

MARY-JANE: What happened?

LYNAS: Police contact. Eddie Brock is gone from his apartment.

MARY-JANE: Peter...no, Peter...

LYNAS: Would seem to fit, wouldn't it? I'm keeping this with us at all times.

_He pats one of the sonic emitter devices sitting beside him on his lap._

MARY-JANE: Where did you-

LYNAS: Don't ask. We just have to find him before things get worse.

**Act 3, Scene 24**

_Harry's hospital bed. His eyes snap open._

**Act 3, Scene 25**

_Back on the bridge. No time has passed since we last cut from here._

BROCK: (_going from amazed to furious_)Parker...Parker! I _knew it was you!_

SPIDERMAN: Pity no-one will ever believe you, Eddie.

BROCK: I'll make them believe me. I had everything...and you took it away from me, you-

_In an instant Spiderman is upon him, webs flying. Eddie quickly finds himself with hands bound helplessly staring into Peter's face. As he watches the black surface of the symbiote creeps its way upward again. We see the effect in close-up for the first time and it's disturbing in the extreme - first his veins darken, giving him a horrific death's head appearance, before the rest of his skin blackens and the features of his face soften into the mask shape. _

SPIDERMAN: What are you saying, Eddie? That if I let you go you'll just try to ruin my life, _again_? That you'll put everyone I love in danger for your own personal gain, _again_?

BROCK: No! No...I won't breathe a word...your secret is safe, I swear to God.

_Spiderman picks him up and dangles him over the side of the bridge, exactly as the Goblin once did to Mary-Jane. _

SPIDERMAN: Why don't I believe you?

BROCK: I swear to God! I swear to God! Oh God, _please...somebody help me!_

**Act 3, Scene 26**

_Close up on Mary Jane's face. She has the look of someone working something out, something crucial._

MARY-JANE: They'll be gone soon...

LYNAS: What?

MARY-JANE: I know where Pete is.

**Act 3, Scene 27**

_Back on the bridge._

SPIDERMAN: I save Jameson's son and in return his old man offers a reward on my head. And what do the people do? Support me? No. They hunt me.

_We hear a whisper on the wind, a whisper of Norman Osborn's voice._

NORMAN: In spite of everything you've done for them...

SPIDERMAN: And then there's you, Eddie. What am I going to do with you?

_Directly beneath them on the bridge, Lynas' car screeches to a halt, causing immediate traffic chaos. Mary-Jane emerges from the car first, looking upward, straining her eyes to make out the figures above._

MARY-JANE: NO!

_Between the squealing tires of traffic and her shout, Spiderman notices her presence below. Lynas emerges from the car, holding the sonic emitter._

LYNAS: Take this with you!

MARY-JANE: I need to get up there!

LYNAS: Er...how?

_A webline attaches itself to her waist and wraps around her once, twice. She's pulled upwards out of shot with a small squeal. Lynas cocks his head to one side in a 'well, that's one way' kinda way._

_People begin to emerge from their cars to verbally abuse Lynas. They witness MJ's sudden ascension, however, and notice what's going on above._

MAN: It's him!

WOMAN: Who?

MAN: Bob Hesselmeyer!

_Inside Lynas' car, Bob Hesselmeyer gives a proud little grin._

_Up above meanwhile, Mary-Jane is deposited via some elaborate web-trickery on the opposite end of the same bridge beam that holds Spiderman, who himself is still holding Eddie Brock over the side. Mary-Jane takes a moment to steady herself and makes the mistake of looking down._

MARY-JANE: (_terrified_) Oh my God...

SPIDERMAN: Nostalgic yet, MJ? I know I am. How about you, Eddie?

EDDIE: Let me go!

SPIDERMAN: Let you _go? _Well if you insist-

MARY-JANE: No! Peter, no!

_Brock is released...and caught again a quarter-second later. Even so the sensation of beginning to fall is enough to send Eddie Brock into another fit of ranting, pleading and cursing at his captor. _

SPIDERMAN: Journalists.

_He webs the man's mouth shut. Mary-Jane is crawling extremely carefully along the beam toward them. The positions are eerily identical to the setup in Peter's nightmare, except with Peter standing in the spot where the Goblin once stood._

MARY-JANE: Stop this, Pete. Please.

SPIDERMAN: Don't call me that.

MARY-JANE: It's who you are.

SPIDERMAN: No more.

MARY-JANE: No. It's this _thing _inside of you-

SPIDERMAN: Yes. Weakness. That's what I always feared. That I'd go back to being just Parker again, that I'd lose my powers like last year.

MARY-JANE: The nightmares.

SPIDERMAN: I can't lose myself again.

MARY-JANE: If you drop him, you will. Can't you _see_ that? You'll be hunted for the rest of your life. You just got your life back, Pete! Why..._why_ would you do this?

SPIDERMAN: That was for you and Aunt May. No-one will know Peter Parker did this. This is for me. Stay back, MJ. I'm warning you.

_Tears stream down Mary-Jane's face. _

MARY-JANE: I love you, Peter.

SPIDERMAN: Yeah. I remember.

MARY-JANE: (_desperately_)Are you making him proud?

SPIDERMAN: I'm done with that. Goodbye, Eddie.

_We watch his fingers slowly uncurl around Eddie's shirt. Eddie's mouth strains at its web-bonds in a silent scream. Mary-Jane sobs helpless tears. And then-_

HARRY: Don't do it, Peter!

_Frozen in amazement (and with Eddie still attached) Spiderman looks down. Clambering up the girders toward them is Harry Osborn. _

MARY-JANE: (_as amazed as we are_) Harry!

SPIDERMAN: Harry! Good to see you, buddy! Let's go for coffee!

HARRY: Sounds good, Pete. Why don't you web Eddie to the surface and we'll do that?

SPIDERMAN: Oh, gimme a break. I'm being talked down by an escaped lunatic?

HARRY: I'm not the one dangling some guy over a bridge, am I...

SPIDERMAN: What, am I supposed to believe you're cured now?

HARRY: I am cured. Thanks to you. You gave me a chance when you could have killed me. Whatever was between us in the past, Pete - it's over.

SPIDERMAN: And what about dear Daddy?

HARRY: I loved my father, but he died when he took that serum, not afterward. No-one knows that better than me, now. I was just lucky to have people who believed in me. I know you're still in there, Peter.

SPIDERMAN: You're wrong.

HARRY: No. I'm not.

_Spiderman says nothing. We see his head swing from looking at Harry to looking at Eddie Brock. _

HARRY: You've got a choice, Peter. We are who we choose to be! So _choose_!

_Massive internal conflicts are raging within Peter/Spiderman/the symbiote. He staggers and poor wretched Eddie flounders in mid-air, panicking. Eventually he lets loose with a piercing cry of frustration, rage, pain, and a hundred other emotions...and Eddie Brock drops to the beam. Brock falls onto his knees, his hands still webbed together._

SPIDERMAN: Aaaaaaaaggggh!

MARY-JANE: _Peter!_

_Peter is beginning to change, and this time we sense it might be permanent. His teeth are sharpening, his body filling out, becoming more and more powerful as the symbiote makes an all-out grab for power, seizing the moment of uncertainty in Peter's mind to make its challenge. _

_Harry runs to the next beam and jumps, pulling himself up one-handed with some effort, making his way toward the scene above him._

HARRY: Stay away from him, MJ!

_Brock, terrified at what he's seeing, tries to crawl away...and a claw, not a hand, alights on his ankle. He looks behind him tries to scream, but can't. Peter's face has now completely transformed into the symbiote's true form; a howling, monstrously-tongued, needle-toothed abomination, leering and hissing at him. _

PETER/THING: _Brock..._

_Brock kicks out at the thing, and so debilitating are the physical changes it's going through that he actually manages to free himself. Mary-Jane grabs his hand and tries to pull him clear. They scramble across the beam away from the figure that was once Peter Parker..._

_...only for two black weblines to attach themselves to their backs. Getting stronger and less debilitated by the moment, the creature approximates a laugh as it reels Mary-Jane and Eddie in, pulling them back toward it. MJ screams as the weblines bring them within touching distance of the thing. It reaches out a deformed arm and grabs Eddie by the leg..._

_...just as Harry Osborn arrives. _

HARRY: Get the _hell _out of my friend.

_We pan down to his right hand. It's holding a sonic emitter._

_The Peter/Thing screams, but too late. Harry activates the emitter and the blackness surrounding Peter's body spasms and writhes. The webline holding MJ breaks and she's free, falling to the beam and almost rolling off. Only Harry's outstretched hand saves her. _

MARY-JANE: Harry! _Don't let me fall!_

_Eddie's webline also breaks, but he's being physically held by the thing, and it won't let go. His mouth still welded shut, he can't scream; his eyes plead with Harry for help. Harry however has MJ hanging off the edge by just one hand to deal with. He is forced to drop the emitter to the beam and swing his other arm around to better support MJ. _

_The emitter continues to broadcast its terrible disruption. The symbiote's blackness is literally bleeding out of Peter now, leaving his white skin exposed, but causing him spectacular agony in the process. And yet, as the blackness bleeds from his face, we see a curious expression of pleasure and triumph alight in Peter's eyes. He even manages to grit his teeth and hiss-_

PETER: Get...OUT!

_The symbiote flows along the only biological route available to it. Eddie Brock. He is soon covered in the living skin. Finally the webbing covering his mouth is dissolved and re-absorbed back into the main mass of the symbiote, leaving Eddie just enough time to emit one lingering scream._

_Harry manages to get MJ safely back up on the beam. He turns to Eddie's writhing body. _

EDDIE: HELP...ME!

_Harry reaches out a hand, but he's stopped by Mary-Jane, who jerks his hand back._

MARY-JANE: Don't touch him! It'll spread to you!

_Eddie's accusing eyes settle on them both. That expression of betrayal is the last thing they see as his body slips, slides, and finally topples over the beam and down...down into the raging river below. It's gone, over in an instant, leaving only the three friends above._

_Harry crawls over to Peter, who's motionless on his back. He rolls him over as gently as he can. At first appearing out cold (or worse), Peter's eyes flutter open after a moment._

PETER: Mary-Jane? Harry?

HARRY: Thank God.

PETER: (_weakly_)Brock?

HARRY: He's gone. That thing too. They're dead. It's over, Pete. It's over.

_But Peter's eyes say different. His eyes contain the worry, and the unwelcome certainty that Harry is wrong. Very wrong._

_As Mary-Jane envelops him in a tight embrace, we fade out._

**Act 3, Scene 28**

_The surface of the bridge. Mary-Jane and Harry touch base with Peter, who's wearing Harry's stolen coat over his head. The curious crowds assembled there surge forward, but Lynas manages to smuggle the three into his car. _

LYNAS: What happened up there?

_Safe behind the tinted glass of the car, Peter removes the coat. The three exchange a telling glance between them._

PETER: Brock's gone. So is the symbiote.

_Shocked, Lynas can only nod. He gestures down to the sonic emitter._

LYNAS: I see it came in useful for you. I didn't know you had told one of your friends where we were, Miss Watson.

MARY-JANE: I didn't.

PETER: How _did_ you know, Harry?

HARRY: I don't know. I woke up and just...it was there. Maybe someone told me in a dream or something.

_He laughs it off. Peter simply smiles, having his own suspicions on who that could have been._

LYNAS: Bob, time for us to be going I think.

BOB: (_with an odd light of determination in his eyes_)No. Not just yet.

_Sirens wail outside. Police cars pull up from all directions. Mary-Jane grabs hold of Peter protectively. He squeezes her hand. _

PETER: They're here for Spiderman.

_We cut to the police leading a man into a squad car, with Mary-Jane and Harry looking on. The man turns, and it's Bob. We pan across from Mary-Jane and Harry to Peter, standing beside them. He mouths 'thank you' to Bob, who simply smiles back as he ducks down inside the car._

MARY-JANE: We can't just let him...

LYNAS: Relax, my dear. I have a feeling he's going to have an excellent lawyer. One who will point out, quite reasonably, that his client is currently not in possession of any superpowers whatsoever.

_Peter grins._

LYNAS: Where can I drop you three?

HARRY: Back ho...

_And it hits him then, the enormity of what has happened. His home, the only thing he had left in the world, is gone. More, he himself was its destroyer. We see Harry struggle to cope with it. He's on the verge of a total collapse when a hand touches his shoulder._

PETER: I know a place.

**Act 3, Scene 29**

_Aunt May's front door opens. _

AUNT MAY: Peter!

_Peter recoils back slightly, as if dodging a slap. None is forthcoming. Aunt May skips straight to the hug part. Eventually they part. Peter steps into the hallway. _

PETER: I'm so sorry.

AUNT MAY: Shush. I'm proud of you. But are you all right?

PETER: I _have_ felt better. But I'm gonna be just fine. In fact, I'm kinda hungry...

_Mary-Jane appears at the doorway, grinning. Aunt May smiles. _

AUNT MAY: Dinner for three? No problem.

PETER: Actually...

_Harry Osborn steps in, right on cue. He looks awkward, sheepish, ashamed. He fidgets. _

PETER: ...it's for four.

HARRY: Hey. If this is too-

AUNT MAY: You're welcome in this home anytime, Harry Osborn. Now you three get in there and get working on setting the table.

PETER / MARY-JANE / HARRY: Yes, Aunt May.

_They file in meekly. Aunt May strides out to the kitchen, all business, but once she's in there she simply stands out of sight by the doorway and listens for a moment to the buzz of conversation from the three friends in the next room. _

_The world's biggest smile lights up her features. She opens the refridgerator and begins to assemble dinner. We pull back, out of the kitchen window, leaving the house behind altogether, that faint conversation still floating in the air._

**Act 3, Scene 30**

_Dusk. The Brooklyn Bridge looms large in the background. Squad cars of police finish the last of the night's mop-up clearing the traffic jam caused by the earlier events. We pass above them and swing low, skimming the surfaces of the waters themselves, before diving underneath and moving through at great speed, until finally we emerge onto the riverbank downstream. Various flotsam and jetsam scatter the fringes. _

_A shadow lengthens. Something that looked like just another piece of debris gains sudden form and stands tall - seven feet tall, to be precise. We stay behind it so that all we can see is its fearsome silhouette. It's incredibly powerfully built, amazingly broad. _

_It turns to us and growls, and we see its fearsome countenance, that which we only glimpsed for moments during Peter's final battle to be rid of the symbiote. These features seem real, seem solid and unchanging. The teeth are needle-sharp and numerous far beyond human standards. The tongue behind them flicks out like a snake's every few seconds, savouring the taste of the New York night. Two soulless firefly eyes complete the face. _

_The figure growls and snarls at us, before crouching down and powering itself for a jump that rockets it up and away into the New York night._

_Venom is upon us._

**Act 3, Scene 31**

_Next morning. Peter walks up to the Sentinel's building. Lynas is outside, and has ditched his usual sharp suit in favour of a casual shirt. He's sitting on the sidewalk staring out into traffic. Peter notices as he approaches the building that it's closed._

LYNAS: Pete! Over here.

_Pete wanders over to join Lynas. _

PETER: What's going on? Aren't we running today?

LYNAS: We're finished, Pete. Shareholders passed a vote of no confidence in me at an emergency meeting last night. Me not showing up didn't help. We've been sold off.

PETER: What? But the press conference yesterday...

LYNAS: You know the _Bugle _has almost doubled its readership numbers over the past few days? New owner wants to relaunch following 'the Jameson blueprint for success'.

PETER: What about you?

LYNAS: I'll be alright. (_dryly_)Multi-millionaires have a way of bouncing back from these things, you know.

PETER: Mind if I ask something?

LYNAS: Go for it.

PETER: Did you give me job because I was really that good, or because I was Spiderman?

LYNAS: If you have to ask that, I'm not going to answer it.

PETER: Great. Riddles. Love those.

_Lynas offers Peter his hand, and Peter shakes it. _

PETER: See you around I guess.

LYNAS: Bet on it.

_Peter turns and begins walking away, casting a last longing look up at the window to what was, briefly but memorably, his office. Lynas calls after him._

LYNAS: What will you do?

PETER: Get a job...

**Act 3, Scene 32**

_Jameson's office. He's in full on tirade._

JAMESON: A job! _A job! _Don't make me laugh, Parker! Here's a few names for ya: Benedict Arnold. Judas Iscariot. Neither of them were even _nearly _as fired as you are right now!

_We don't even see Peter. We stay on Jameson as a folder is slid across to him on the table. He snatches it up and flicks through the photographs within._

JAMESON: (_with the air of a man in pain_)Five hundred.

_Peter's hand reaches across and plucks the folder back from Jameson's hand. We hear a chair scraping across floor. Jameson's features knit into a truly fearsome scowl._

JAMESON: Eight hundred.

_We cut for the first time, as Pete pauses at Jameson's door. He smiles._

PETER: I'll drop these with Robbie.

JAMESON: Then get out.

PETER: How's your son?

JAMESON: Sitting up and talking about going back into space.

PETER: Is that all he's talking about?

_Jameson reacts to this. Peter opens the door._

JAMESON: Parker?

_Peter turns._

JAMESON: I'll be watching you.

PETER: I know.

_He leaves the office, and Jameson watches him go._

**Act 3, Scene 33**

_The graveyard. We come around from behind a tombstone and Harry Osborn is revealed before us, holding a single rose. _

HARRY: I'm sorry I didn't come before. I just...I wouldn't have felt right, you know? Maybe I should have come. I guess we never really got to know each other, but I just wanted you to know that you got through to me, in the end. When it mattered.

_He drops the rose on the grave._

HARRY: I have somewhere to be. But I'll be back, I promise. Thank you.

_He walks away. We pan slowly around to reveal the name on the tombstone. It reads: BEN PARKER. BELOVED UNCLE AND HUSBAND._

**Act 3, Scene 34**

_Aunt May opens her front door. Lynas is standing there._

AUNT MAY: Can I help you?

LYNAS: Just here to deliver this, ma'am. Have a nice day.

_He hands her an envelope, smiles, and walks back to his car, which drives away. Aunt May stares after him, puzzled. Peter enters from the kitchen._

PETER: Who was it?

AUNT MAY: I don't know. He just gave me this.

_She opens the envelope and unfolds the documents within. We pan down to see what she's holding. The first page says TITLE DEED. Aunt May keeps reading. Her eyes slowly widen in disbelief. _

AUNT MAY: It's the house.

PETER: This house?

AUNT MAY: I own it. The mortgage has been paid in full.

PETER: (_incredulous_)The house - the house is yours!

AUNT MAY: Oh, Peter!

_They come together in a joyful embrace. It's a real heartwarming moment; finally, after the last three years of uncertainty following Ben's death, they can relax knowing that the house is safe. _

_We cut to Lynas' car. His mobile rings._

LYNAS: Yes? Yes...it's done. Yes, I'm sure. Listen to me: Peter Parker was going to owe me big one way or the other. And if Parker owes me, Spiderman owes me. And that's more or less the whole point now isn't it?

_He terminates the call with a flip of his phone. Suddenly this isn't the genial Lynas Stewart we've grown accustomed to; this is someone different, someone new, and someone quite unpleasant._

LYNAS: Home. We have a lot to do.

_We cut ahead to the driver. It's the woman who was present with Lynas when Peter woke up in his mansion. She smiles._

DRIVER: Yes, sir...

**Act 3, Scene 35**

_A red-carpet premiere. Stars step out from their cars. A thousand flashbulbs go off in their direction from fans and photographers alike. Peter Parker is amongst the photographers, perched on the railings, snapping away. He seems a little wistful, a little lost in thought. _

_A car pulls up, and a leg is outstretched. The hungry press lean forward. The fans roar. Mary-Jane Watson emerges from the car, resplendent in a magnificent full-length gown which trails her feet. She smiles and waves to everyone. We see Peter look at her and be dazzled by her beauty, before he jerks himself into action and begins dutifully snapping pictures._

_Mary-Jane makes her way up to the carpet, and begins that celebrity-perfected pose 'n' walk, swirling and twirling her way up toward the movie theatre, giving off a hundred different perfect poses on the way._

_And then...she stops._

_And walks toward Peter. _

_Around him the crowd go wild. He simply lets his camera droop to his chest and picks his head up until his eyes are level with hers. We watch from the barrier between them, the metal grille separating the stars from the rest._

_She reaches out a hand and wraps her fingers around his._

MARY-JANE: Coming?

_Without a word, he steps up and over the barrier. She leads him out into the centre of the red carpet, and in front of a thousand photographers both amateur and professional, in front of New York high society, in front of the millions watching on television cameras...they kiss._

_And kiss._

_Until eventually they are forced to come up for air._

MARY-JANE: (_conspiratorially_)I think they saw us. Aren't you worried?

PETER: You can handle it.

_They turn toward the theatre._

MARY-JANE: Let's go get 'em together, tiger.

_As they walk toward the interior, we spiral upward at a fantastic rate, up the side of the building, bouncing off as we hit the top until we leap through the air to the building opposite. Still we climb, until we reach the top, and there, perched and watching the scene below, is what was once Eddie Brock and Spiderman's symbiote, but is now one body, one mind, one soul...one Venom._

_He snarls downward, a sound of pure malicious intent, and is gone an instant later, leaping from the roof and flying through New York as we follow him in classic Spiderman style, but in a way Spiderman could never dream of replicating - stronger, faster, better than Spiderman in every possible way. Eventually he comes to rest on a ledge hundreds of feet up, growls, and swings directly into the camera, filling the screen with blackness._

_Fade out._

**THE END**


	4. Author's Notes

Author's Note

Just a quick note to say a few things. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed this so far. I can't describe how much I love opening my email account to see a 'Review Alert' email nestling in there. Writers love praise like cats love catnip.

_For anyone who's wondering if this was written as a response to the rumours regarding the script for the movie, no it wasn't. This was written because, odd as it may sound, I actually didn't enjoy Spiderman 2 all that much. I found the dialogue clichéd (I defy anyone to make sense of "I'm standing in your doorway, Peter"), and the structure of the movie itself was off; the train sequence was breathtaking and effortlessly the climactic scene of the movie, and yet the movie had another half-hour or so to run afterward. Plus, all that will-they won't-they with MJ and Pete – it was a chick flick with webslinging, basically. _

_I came out of the cinema buzzing with opinions on what Spiderman 3 should be – a movie with less dewy-eyed fawning between MJ and Pete, less misery and more action. And that's where my take on Spiderman 3 came from. As will show, this script was posted in January / February 2005, long before any Topher Grace / Thomas Haden Church casting news leaked out. _

_Now I'm hearing that the movie will feature the return of the Green Goblin in the form of Harry, Peter having to make use of the symbiote to beat him, the symbiote slowly taking control of Peter's personality, and eventually Harry returning to help Peter in the final battle…_

_Hmm. Interesting._

_Where _do_ they get their ideas from? _


	5. Shameless Plug!

Hi all!

Sorry as this isn't a long-delayed (!) new chapter or even an announcement of a sequel.

I've spent the last year or so writing a trilogy of urban fantasy novels and the first one was released on Thursday 10th May. It's called "Folk'd" (pun intended), and it's available on Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks. If you search for Folk'd or Laurence Donaghy on Amazon or iBooks it should come up (I can't post links through this or will get very angry with me, whimper).

Anyway, the synopsis for Folk'd goes like this:

Meet Danny Morrigan. Callcentre worker. Young father. Danny's not entirely happy with his life. He finds himself tortured by the "what ifs", and by one in particular – what if his casual girlfriend hadn't told him she was pregnant before he finished his university degree? What if, out of some sense of decency and not wanting to be like his own father, he hadn't "done the right thing" and dropped out to support her and the baby?

When Danny comes home from work after a particularly bad day to find his girlfriend and baby son have vanished, Marie Celeste like, into thin air, it begins a series of events that quickly moves beyond a simple missing persons case. Danny begins to uncover the Morrigan family's real purpose in this world, a world of lurking danger and concealed horror, where the line between mythology and reality blur. Before he knows it he's living another life where (seemingly) he has everything he ever wanted…a good job, no responsibilities…but what is the cause of this change? Where have his family gone? Why doesn't anyone remember his old life?

And most importantly, does he want it back?

Folk'd interweaves a very modern tale of unexpected parenthood and responsibility set in contemporary Belfast with ancient Irish mythology and the supernatural. In Folk'd and its sequels, Folk'd Up Beyond All Recognition and Completely Folk'd, we are taken on a humorous, sometimes horrifying, always enthralling journey from modern-day Belfast to prehistory as the full and tragic tale of the Morrigan family is told.

So I just thought you might want to check it out - it's only £2.99 but I promise there are laughs and scares aplenty, plus mention in any reviews you might care to leave and you get a free frogurt!*

*as long as you live in Belfast, Northern Ireland and are within walking distance of a frogurt shop. Terms and conditions apply.

Thanks!


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